A Family of Death Eaters
by HollyMahogany20911
Summary: Follow the Lestrange family, beginning from Rodolphus at Hogwarts until his imprisonment in 1981.
1. The Request

**Chapter 1: The Request**

_April 1961_

"Sir," Tom Riddle asked Professor Slughorn, "is it true that Professor Merry thought is retiring?"

Rodolphus Lestrange watched a surprised expression cross Slughorn's face, as the older man looked up from the box of candy that he had been rifling through.

"Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn't tell you," Slughorn replied. He shook his finger reprovingly at Riddle, the end of it covered with sugar from the candied pineapple. Rodolphus noticed he was smiling though, as he gave Riddle a wink. "I must say, I'd like to know where you get your information, boy; more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are. What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter – thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favourite."

Rodolphus laughed along with the other members of the Slug Club. He looked at Riddle admiringly, wishing he had the older boy's talent to charm the teachers.

"I confidently expect you to rise to Minister for Magic within twenty years," Slughorn said. "Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple. I have excellent contacts at the Ministry."

"I don't know that politics would suit me, sir," Riddle replied, smiling slightly. "I don't have the right kind of background, for one thing."

Rodolphus caught the eye of his best friend, Evan Rosier, and smirked at him. They both knew that Riddle had much more ambitious plans than some desk job at the Ministry of Magic. Despite having a Muggle surname, Riddle came from one of the purest families there was: he was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself.

"Nonsense," Slughorn was saying, airily waving a hand, "couldn't be plainer you come from decent wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you'll go far, Tom, I've never been wrong about a student yet."

The clock chimed and Rodolphus glanced over to see that it was eleven o'clock.

"Good gracious, is it that time already?" said Slughorn. "You'd better get going, boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Avery."

"Yes, sir," Rodolphus replied, silently cursing to himself. He was usually on top of his schoolwork, but ever since he began dating Arabelle Fawley, he had been neglecting his studies a bit too much. The Potions essay was due a few days ago, and Slughorn had already given him an extension on it, yet it had slipped his mind once again.

As Rodolphus grabbed his bag and started for the door, he realized that Riddle was still standing in the room. Riddle looked over at him and subtly waved him away; clearly, he wanted to be left alone with Slughorn. Rodolphus walked out of the room, vaguely wondering what favour Riddle was going to get out of their Head of House this time.

Outside the door, Evan and Prescott Avery had waited for him.

"Is Riddle coming?" Evan asked, looking back at Slughorn's office.

"Not yet," replied Rodolphus, as he began walking toward the staircase with Avery and Evan beside him.

"I forgot all about turning in my essay!" Avery said, shaking his head. "Luckily its finished, I just need to remember to take it to him tomorrow. Hopefully he won't take marks off for it being late - he is marking all our work at N.E.W.T. standard now."

"Well, I actually forgot to do mine," Rodolphus bitterly replied. "So, I guess I won't be going to bed anytime soon."

"What's it about?" Avery asked, as they walked across the entry hall and made their way down to the dungeons.

"_Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Strengthening Solutions_," quoted Rodolphus. "Two rolls of parchment and marked at O.W.L. standard for us." Rodolphus and Evan were in their fifth year and would be sitting their O.W.L. exams at the end of the year, while Avery was in his seventh and had his N.E.W.T. exams coming up.

"I'd let you copy mine, but I received a "D" on it," Evan offered, shrugging. Potions were easily Evan's worst subject.

"Thanks for the offer, Ev," Rodolphus said with a laugh as they reached the entry point for the Slytherin common room, "but I think I can manage it on my own."

"Salazar," Avery said to the blank stretch of wall, which immediately revealed a door that slid open for them.

Inside the common room, Tomas Nott and George Wilkes, who had also been at the Slug Club meeting, were sitting in the handsome carved chairs closest to the fireplace.

"Where's Riddle?" asked Wilkes, as the three boys joined them.

"He stayed behind with Slughorn," Avery informed him.

"I wonder what he wants this time," Evan grinned.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure he will get it," replied Rodolphus, as pulled his potions book out of his bag and began flipping through to the page on strengthening solutions. The others murmured words of agreement. Riddle usually didn't have trouble getting anything he wanted from the teachers at Hogwarts – _most_ of the teachers anyway.

While Rodolphus worked on his essay, his friends chatted idly to each other. He knew they were all waiting to see Riddle when he returned, hoping to find out what their unofficial leader was up to now. Finally, at midnight, the other boys gave up waiting and decided to go to bed. Left alone in the empty common room, Rodolphus continued writing everything he could about Strengthening Solutions. Luckily, Rodolphus had a natural talent for Potions and the words for the essay came easily to him.

He was just finishing up his second roll of parchment when the common room door opened, and Riddle finally came in.

"I didn't think anyone would still be up," Riddle commented, sitting down opposite Rodolphus.

"I had to finish this stupid essay for Slughorn," Rodolphus replied, gesturing to the parchment in front of him.

"Do you need any help with it?" Riddle asked, absentmindedly.

"Thanks, but I'm just about finished."

Riddle nodded and stared out the window into the dark lake, looking preoccupied about something. Rodolphus really wanted to know Riddle what he had spoken to Slughorn about, but he knew better than to ask. One thing that Rodolphus had learned quickly about Tom Riddle was that he didn't appreciate being questioned by anyone, friend or not.

*.*.*

_Two months later…_

At the end of the school year, Rodolphus was alone in his dormitory, packing his trunk. The other boys who shared the room just randomly tossed their belongings in to their trunks and headed outside to enjoy one last day on the Hogwarts grounds before they returned home for summer break. Rodolphus didn't have that option. His father always inspected his trunk when he returned home, and if something was out of place, there would be repercussions. According to him, pure-blood wizards were not slobs. So Rodolphus had spent the past hour carefully folding his robes and placing items in his trunk in a particular order.

Finally satisfied with how his trunk looked, Rodolphus closed the lid. He was hoping to track down Arabelle for some alone time before the year-end feast that night. He started to walk toward the door, but before he reached it, it burst open and Riddle entered the dormitory.

"Thanks for letting me borrow this." Riddle was carrying a large book, which he held out to Rodolphus.

"Are you finished with it?" Rodolphus asked, as he accepted the copy of _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy_ that he had loaned to Riddle at the beginning of the school year. "We have more copies at home if you want to keep it."

"Yes, I've got all I need from it," Riddle replied. He sat down on Evan's bed and watched Rodolphus carefully put the book in his trunk. "Why would you have multiple copies of it? Is it something your family reads a lot?"

"Most pure-bloods are gifted with a copy at some point in their life," Rodolphus explained. "I received that one when I was five and my father made me memorize it."

"That sounds enjoyable," Riddle replied dryly, raising his eyebrows slightly. He remained silent for a moment, looking as though he wanted to say something – Riddle wasn't one to linger for no reason. After a few minutes, he said, "I was hoping you would be able to help me out."

"Sure, what do you need?" Rodolphus asked, eagerly. He always felt a strange twinge of pride when Riddle asked for his help with something.

"Your family has a lot of gold, don't they?" Riddle asked.

Rodolphus was taken aback by the question, but not seeing any reason to be dishonest about it, he nodded and replied, "Loads of it."

"I was thinking of renting a room in London," Riddle said slowly, watching Rodolphus closely. "However, I don't have enough money saved to pay for a place for the whole summer."

"Can't you stay at the school again?" Rodolphus asked. Riddle had remained at the school over the summer break last year.

"Yes, Dippet agreed that I could," Riddle said. "But I'm seventeen and I can legally practice magic anywhere now. Where would you rather spend your summer – at school or out on your own?"

Rodolphus nodded but didn't say anything. He was trying to think of a way to get his hands on the amount of gold that Riddle would need. Before he could reply to the other boy, a flash of annoyance crossed Riddle's face and he jumped up from the bed.

"If you don't want to help me, that's fine," Riddle said crossly, as he walked toward the door. "I will ask someone else."

"No, wait!" Rodolphus said. "I _do_ want to help. I'm just trying to figure out how."

Riddle crossed his arms and looked at him suspiciously.

"My father has complete control over the family gold," Rodolphus explained. "Its not as if I can stroll into Gringotts and withdraw whatever I want."

"So, your father is the problem?" Riddle asked, as his face relaxed into a calmer expression.

"Yes," replied Rodolphus. "If I ask him for the money, he would want to know exactly what it was for and I guarantee you that he wouldn't agree to me giving it to a friend."

"You perform a Confundus charm, can't you?"

"Er- yes, of course," Rodolphus said, hesitantly. "I'm just not sure if it will be strong enough to hold on him, and if he catches me trying to jinx him, he will kill me." He almost shuddered at the thought of his father catching him trying to cast a spell on him.

"You're afraid of him," Riddle commented, with interest. "I didn't think you were afraid of anything, Lestrange." Rodolphus felt slightly abashed as Riddle smirked at him.

"I can help you with your father if that's your only obstacle," Riddle offered. "You do _want_ to help me, don't you?"

"Of course, I do," Rodolphus replied quickly, trying to redeem himself. "If you can help me to hoodwink my father, I will get you whatever you need."

"Good," Riddle said, looking satisfied. "Here's what you need to do…"

Forgetting his previous plans of meeting up with his girlfriend, Rodolphus dutifully remained with Riddle for the rest of the day, making plans on how to get him the gold he needed.


	2. The Understanding

**Chapter 2: The Understanding**

_August 31, 1961_

The day before the start of his sixth year, Rodolphus was in his room, packing his trunk when there was a knock on his door.

"Enter," he said, glancing toward the door as the family elf, Sobie, ran into his room.

"Young master, sir," Sobie panted, bowing until his nose touched the floor. "The master – your father – wishes to see you, sir."

Rodolphus held back a groan as he followed the elf out of his room. He hated being unexpectedly summoned to his father's office. Seeing as how the man never invites him in for a heartfelt one-on-one, it was usually an unpleasant reason when Renier Lestrange requested to see his eldest son. He felt a sudden lurch in his stomach as he wondered if perhaps his father had found out about the gold he had given Riddle.

The process had been much easier than Rodolphus had anticipated. Riddle was able to show Rodolphus the most effective way to perform a Confundus charm and, after he was home for a couple days, he tried it out on his father. The next day, Renier went to Diagon Alley and withdrew the gold from the family vault, giving it to Rodolphus with no explanation. The next time his father had left the house for the day, Rodolphus had snuck off to Diagon Alley and passed the gold over to Riddle.

At the time, Rodolphus laughed at absurb ease of their scheme. But as summer wore on, he grew more apprehensive that the charm would wear off and his father would question what the money was for.

Rodolphus reached the study door and, after ensuring his face displayed no sign of the anxiety he was feeling, he lifted his hand to knock. The door opened a second later and he slowly entered the room. Renier was seated at his large desk, looking over a piece of parchment.

"Sit," Renier stated, without even looking up.

Rodolphus sat in one of the leather chairs across from his father and waited for the man to speak. The minutes passed slowly as Renier continued reading the paper, occasionally making notes on it. The longer they sat in silence, the more nervous Rodolphus felt. Finally, the older Lestrange put down the document and quill, and looked up at his son.

"You will turn seventeen next year, meaning that you will become of age," Renier began, in his usual cold, uncaring voice. Rodolphus nodded slowly, not sure where this conversation was headed. "You should know that I have chosen a wife for you."

"A wife?" asked Rodolphus, taken aback. "Already? Father, I still have two years left of school. Isn't this a bit early to consider marriage?"

"Do not question me, boy!" spat his father, his eyes narrowing in anger.

"I wasn't –"

"_Silence!_" Renier slammed his hand down on the desk and Rodolphus quickly shut his mouth. After a moment, his father continued, in a forced calm voice. "You will not be expected to marry until you are finished with your schooling, but the contract has been drawn up and signed." He picked up one of the papers on his desk and passed it to Rodolphus. "Cyrille Tremblay, a distant relative of ours from France, has agreed to have you marry his daughter."

Rodolphus accepted at the paper his father handed him. As he read through it, he saw that it was indeed a contract, which promised a girl named Lucretia Tremblay to Rodolphus Lestrange. The wedding date was already set and would take place in June, two years from now.

He always knew he would have to marry one day, just as he knew that he was expected to have children to carry on the family name, but he had hoped that when the time came, he would get to choose his wife. As long as she came from a proper pure-blood family, with no blemishes or dishonours in her ancestry, Rodolphus couldn't see any reason why his father wouldn't allow the marriage of his son's choice. Arabelle Fawley had, of course, met all these requirements. Rodolphus made sure to research her family thoroughly before even getting into a relationship with her.

"No."

Rodolphus was a bit surprised to hear the words actually leave his own mouth, but not nearly as surprised as Renier looked. Rodolphus had never defied his father so blatantly before.

Renier's expression of shock quickly turned to anger as he stood up and walked over to Rodolphus.

"You will do as I tell you," he said in a quiet, threatening tone, standing directly above his son.

"No," repeated Rodolphus defiantly, sounding much more confident than he felt as he glared up at his father. "I will choose my wife, Father, not you. I will soon be of age and I want to be the one who makes the decision of who I will spend the rest of my life with."

There were no threats, no warning, before Renier drew his wand and pointed it at his son.

"_Crucio_."

There was a crash as Rodolphus fell out of the chair. He tasted blood as he bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming. He thrashed around on the floor, as he tried to get up. Every inch of his body was in excruciating pain. It felt like his nerves were going to jump out through his skin.

When Renier finally lifted the spell, Rodolphus lay upon the floor shaking as he struggled to catch his breath. It wasn't the first time Rodolphus had been the victim of his father's Cruciatus Curse, but that didn't mean that it got any easier to receive it.

"Get up!" Renier ordered sharply.

When Rodolphus didn't move right away, the curse hit him again. This time he wasn't able to hold back the scream. It ripped from his throat as he writhed on the floor, hoping his father would show him some mercy.

"Let's try this again," Renier said, as he lifted his wand. Rodolphus glanced up and met his father's eyes, which were full of fury and hatred as he looked down at his son. "Stand up," the man hissed.

This time Rodolphus didn't hesitate, he rose as quickly as he could, his battered body protesting against the sudden movement. He stood facing his father, his eyes on the floor. The defiance he had felt a few moments ago was completely gone. It had been cursed out of him.

A hand roughly grabbed his chin and lifted his head, so he was looking directly into his father's eyes. He hated displaying any weakness, especially in front of his father, but he knew the fear that he was feeling was reflected in his eyes as he stood there, his body still shaking from the curse. Rodolphus never despised himself more than he did right now.

"You will marry the Tremblay girl as soon as you have completed school," Renier said, his voice barely above a whisper. "If I hear one more objection from you on this matter, the girl will have to wait until Rabastan is old enough to marry, as he will be the heir of this family."

Rodolphus's felt his eyes widen; there was no mistaking that threat.

"Do you understand me, Rodolphus?"

Rodolphus nodded and his father's fingers squeezed harder, his sharp fingernails pressing into the skin on Rodolphus' chin.

"What was that?" Renier asked.

"Yes, sir," Rodolphus answered quietly. He averted his eyes, looking again at the floor, as his father removed his grip from his face and walked back to his desk to sit down. Rodolphus remained where he was, unsure if he was permitted to leave or not. It was a few long minutes before Renier bothered to speak again.

"The Flint's are coming for supper tonight," he informed Rodolphus, without even looking up at his son. "Go wash up and make yourself look presentable."

Rodolphus didn't need to be told twice. He walked across the room as quickly as he dared and was out the door before his father could change his mind.

*.*.*

_The next morning…_

Rodolphus was awoken abruptly as something heavy landed on top of him. Still half asleep, he pushed the object off him and heard it fall to the floor with a _"Oomph". _Sitting up in bed, Rodolphus looked down at the floor to see his five-year-old brother laying there, grinning up at him.

"What are you doing, Rab?" Rodolphus asked, laughing as the younger boy jumped back up on the bed beside him.

"I wanted to see you before you left." A look of sadness crossed Rabastan's face. "Can't I go to school with you?"

"Sorry," Rodolphus replied sympathetically. "You have to wait a few years before you can go."

"I hate it when you're gone. It's so boring around here without you," Rabastan pouted. "Can I at least go to the train station?"

"You know Father won't let you," Rodolphus replied, as he got out of bed and walked toward his adjoined bathroom to wash up. His body was still sore from the curse his father had used on him the previous day.

He smiled as he heard his brother's feet padding across the rug, following him across the room. Ever since he returned home in June, Rabastan had been practically glued to him. Rodolphus didn't mind though; he actually enjoyed spending time with his young brother. On the days that their father was gone from the house, Rodolphus would take Rabastan outside to walk around the gardens, look through their vast greenhouses or go back to the pond where an old plimpy lived.

Rabastan's favourite thing to do outside was flying. Rodolphus was only able to take him out on his broom a few times over the summer but Rabastan was overjoyed each time. He talked nonstop about it and Rodolphus was constantly reminding him to not say anything to their parents. Well, not to their father, at least. Rodolphus doubted whether their mother cared that her two sons were flying around the estate on a broomstick. Renier, however, would have been livid. He kept his sons close to home and Rabastan was hardly allowed outside his bedroom, let alone the house.

"Did you have breakfast yet?" Rodolphus asked, ruffling Rabastan's hair as he walked back into his bedroom.

"No, I've been waiting for you to get up."

"Okay, lets go get something to eat and maybe after I will let you play with my wand for a bit." Rodolphus smiled as he watched the younger boy's face light up in a huge grin.

They went down to the dining room and Rodolphus was surprised to see his mother already there, drinking a tea and reading the morning paper. Celine Lestrange usually preferred to rise around lunchtime or early afternoon, depending on how much she had to drink the night before.

"You're up early," Rodolphus commented, looking over at his mother as he took his seat at the table and Rabastan crawled up on the chair next to him.

"Your father had an early meeting and isn't able to take you to the station, so I have to do it." She looked up from the newspaper and scowled at him.

"I can get there by myself," Rodolphus suggested.

"I told him that, but he said it wouldn't be appropriate." Celine continued glaring at Rodolphus as though it was his fault that he wasn't old enough to Apparate on his own.

Rodolphus just shrugged and picked up his fork to eat the breakfast that Sobie had just laid in front of him. He was in a fairly good mood and didn't want to spoil it by arguing with his mother.

"Can I go too?" Rabastan asked their mother, looking eager.

"Go where?" Celine asked, sounding annoyed as she glanced at her youngest son.

"To the station. I want to see the train!"

"Are you going to school this year?" their mother asked scornfully.

"No," replied Rabastan, his smile fading slightly, "but I could just go with you, to say goodbye to Rodolphus."

"You can say goodbye before he leaves," she replied as she turned back to the newspaper and picked up her cup of tea. "I don't need y_ou_ stuck in the way."

"Is it really going to hurt for him to go?" Rodolphus interjected heatedly. He hated the way his parents treated his little brother. They openly admitted that their second-born was only around in case anything should happen to Rodolphus.

Celine slammed her cup of tea down on the table hard enough to shatter it. Tea and shards of china flew in every direction. She stood up and pointed a finger in Rodolphus' face.

"_You_ are not in charge of this household and _you_ do not make the decisions here," she yelled at him. "I am not taking that little brat to the station with me. It's bad enough I have to get up early and go with you."

Rodolphus stared coldly at his mother while she was screaming at him. He was used to her constant mood swings, and he knew she became even more short-tempered when she had to rise early and remain sober for a few hours. However, Rodolphus also had a wicked temper and, as he got older, he found that he had a very hard time keeping it in check – especially when he was at home.

"Don't talk about Rabastan that way," he retorted angrily. "He's your _son_ for Merlin's sake, woman!"

"Well, if I had my way, I wouldn't have _any_ sons!" she hissed. She huffed and walked toward the door. "Be ready to leave here at quarter to eleven. And get that damn elf to clean this mess up!"

Rodolphus shook his head in aggravation. He pulled out his wand and repaired the teacup himself, then he called for Sobie to clean up the spilled tea.

"Sorry, Rab," Rodolphus said, giving his brother a small smile. "I tried."

"It's fine," Rabastan said dejectedly, as he watched Sobie clean off the table. The happy, excited boy that sat there a few minutes ago was gone and replaced by a sad, troubled-looking child. Rodolphus would have given anything to be able to take Rabastan with him to Hogwarts, rather than leaving him alone in this house.

*.*.*

"So, that's your mother?" Evan asked Rodolphus, as they watched Celine Lestrange's departing figure walk away from the platform. "Charming woman."

Rodolphus rolled his eyes and walked toward the train with his friend.

"Father had an early meeting today, so he told her to bring me," Rodolphus explained. "She wasn't too pleased about it, as I'm sure you can tell."

Evan nodded but didn't comment any further on the matter. "I suppose you have to go to the prefect carriage first again this year?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, but I hopefully won't be there long," Rodolphus replied. "I will come find you when I'm finished."

The boys went their separate ways, with Rodolphus walking toward the front of the train. When he reached the prefect carriage, Riddle was already there. Rodolphus grinned when he noticed that Riddle's normal prefect badge had been replaced with a new "Head Boy" badge.

"Congratulations," Rodolphus said, with a nod toward the new badge. "I figured you would get that."

Riddle smirked slightly but didn't have the chance to respond because at that moment, Rodolphus' girlfriend, Arabelle, who was the other sixth-year Slytherin prefect, walked in. Arabelle ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a long kiss.

"I missed you," she said, as she pulled away. "I was hoping to see more of you over the summer." She pouted slightly.

Rodolphus smiled slightly but didn't say anything to her as they sat down. He wondered when he should tell her that he was being forced to marry someone other than her. She would obviously end the relationship and, as she traced her fingers teasingly along his leg, he decided that there wasn't any huge rush to do it.

Once everyone had arrived, Riddle and the Head Girl, a Ravenclaw whom Rodolphus didn't know, went through the introduction to the prefect duties. The new fifth year prefects sat attentively, listening carefully to the instructions that their new responsibilities would entail. Some of the sixth-years looked mildly interested, and the seventh-years looked completely bored with the whole process.

Finally, their meeting was over and, after assigning shifts to patrol the corridors during the train ride, they were permitted to leave the carriage.

"Shall we go find a compartment?" Arabelle asked Rodolphus, with a suggestive smile. "Perhaps we can find somewhere private."

Tempting as the offer was, Rodolphus noticed Riddle watching him. The older boy shook his head imperceptibly.

"I've got a couple things that I need to take care of first," Rodolphus informed her, shaking his hand out of hers. "I will come find you after a bit."

Arabelle glanced over at Riddle, then back at Rodolphus and shook her head in frustration.

"Whatever, Rodolphus," she said, angrily. "If you would rather be with your friends than me, maybe I will find someone else to spend my time with." She stalked away from the carriage and Rodolphus watched her go regretfully.

"She will be fine," Riddle informed him, as he put his hand on Rodolphus' shoulder and steered him toward the corridor. "Let's go find Wilkes and Rosier. We have much to discuss."


	3. The Wedding

**Chapter 3: The Wedding**

_June 1963_

"I am so happy to be finally leaving this place," commented Evan, as he was sorting through his school things, trying to decide what to keep and what to toss.

It was the last day of term and Rodolphus and Evan had finished their seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Tonight, they would attend the end-of-year feast, and then they would catch the train back to London early the next morning.

"Yes, it will be nice to get out of here and begin our lives," Rodolphus replied, watching his friend throw all of his text books into the trash bin. "Have you decided whether or not you are going to take that front desk job your father got you at St. Mungo's?"

"Do I really have a choice?" Evan said, scowling. "Father said if I didn't take it, he was kicking me out of the house and I was completely on my own." He sighed as he threw a pile of robes into his trunk without bothering to fold them. "He's still angry that my grades weren't high enough to start training as a Healer. I mean, I don't even _want_ to be a Healer."

Rodolphus gave his friend a sympathetic look. Evan's father and older brothers were all Healers at the hospital in London and Evan had always been expected to follow in their footsteps, even though he never wanted to.

"Of course, I had to book a couple days off for the wedding," Evan continued. He looked over at Rodolphus and shook his head. "I can't believe you're getting _married_ in two weeks!"

"Me neither," Rodolphus admitted, sighing slightly. It had been almost two years since his father told him that he would be marrying a girl that he had never met. To this day, he had yet to lay eyes on Lucretia Tremblay.

He had been able to hide the engagement from Arabelle until the wedding invitations were sent out. She angrily approached him one day, with a copy of the invitation that her mother had sent to her, yelling at him for not telling her that he was engaged. Her anger soon disappeared, and she instead became depressed, begging him to get the marriage contract cancelled. Rodolphus tried to explain to her that there was no changing his father's mind on the matter and Arabelle ultimately stopped speaking to him after that.

"You need a bachelor party," Evan was saying. "As your best man, I completely insist."

"Sure," Rodolphus agreed. "You know I'm not going to argue with that."

"Great, because I already planned one and we were going to have it with or without you."

"Who's _we_?" Rodolphus asked.

"The usual…Avery, Wilkes, Nott," Evan said with a wave of his hand. "I tried to contact Riddle, but I haven't heard from him in ages. Have you?"

"No," Rodolphus replied. "Not a word since he left school last year."

"It's so strange," Evan said, as he always did when this conversation came up. "Its like he just disappeared."

Rodolphus nodded and wondered, for what felt like the millionth time, what had happened to Tom Riddle.

*.*.*

_Two weeks later…_

Before he knew it, two weeks had flown by and Rodolphus was standing in garden of his family's estate, facing a large crowd of wedding guests, and wearing a set of heavy formal dress robes. He tugged at them around the neck – it was extremely hot today.

To his left, was Evan, standing up as his best man. To his right, stood the officiant, looking around pleasantly at the large number of guests, who were talking quietly to one another.

All the families that the Lestrange's regularly interacted with were present, as well as friends and family of the Tremblay's, that had come in from France. Glancing through the crowd, Rodolphus noticed that Arabelle was there with her parents and brother. She looked completely heartbroken and Rodolphus assumed that her parents had forced her into attending.

"Are we ready to begin?" the officiant asked, looking first at Rodolphus, then at Renier, who was seated in the front row.

Rodolphus just nodded, as Renier said, "Yes, please do. We are already ten minutes behind schedule."

The officiant signaled for the band to start playing, and the crowd all turned to face the house, waiting for the bride to emerge.

First came a pretty girl named Madelaine who, Rodolphus was previously informed, was Lucretia's cousin and best friend. She walked down the aisle in a flowing, deep purple bridesmaid gown. She was beautiful but Rodolphus barely noticed her; his eyes were still on the doors, waiting for his soon-to-be wife to come outside.

"Hey, is she taken?" Evan whispered to Rodolphus as Madelaine reached the front. Rodolphus didn't respond, but Madelaine must have heard him because she looked over at Evan and gave him a wink.

"Oh yeah, she wants me," Evan whispered smugly.

The doors opened again, and the guests stood up, blocking Rodolphus' view of the bride. Some of the guests stepped into the aisle to get a better look, much to the annoyance of the photographer, who was no longer able to get a clear shot. He impatiently pushed guests out of his way, so he could get closer to the bride.

A moment later, the crowd parted enough for Rodolphus to get a glimpse of Lucretia. She was dressed in an elegant white gown, covered top to bottom in sparkling sequins. Her lace veil fell over her blond ringlets and trailed down her back. She wore an easy smile, as if getting married was something she did every day. Rodolphus was dumbstruck at how attractive she was.

"Hi!" Lucretia whispered, smiling at him, as she reached the front.

Rodolphus wasn't able to respond. A lump formed in his throat, blocking off his voice. He just watched as she gave her father a kiss on the cheek before he went to sit down.

Barely hearing a word of the ceremony, Rodolphus answered the standard questions when the officiant asked, never taking his eyes off the stunning woman beside him. When the ceremony ended, and Rodolphus and Lucretia shared their first kiss as husband and wife, the guests sent a shower of sparks in the air to celebrate the new marriage.

They walked back down the aisle and into the house, with Evan and Madelaine trailing behind them. The wedding party was to remain in the house until they were called back out, giving the hired wizards time to set up the reception area. The rest of the guests would retreat to the side of the yard for cocktails until everything was ready.

"I'm so glad that's over!" Madelaine exclaimed, as she checked her makeup in mirror in the parlour.

"It wasn't that bad," Lucretia said, with a smile at Rodolphus. He tried to return the smile but wasn't sure if he managed; the lump in his throat had returned.

Madelaine spun around. "Oh no, _cherie_, I don't mean ze wedding!" She smiled brightly at Lucretia and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It was _magnifique_! It's just so _warm_ out. I almost start sweating through my gown."

"They will be putting up marquees for the reception," Rodolphus informed her, his voice returning, as he sat down in the nearest chair. "Surely they will cast a cooling spell inside."

"I 'ope so," Madelaine said as she pulled out her wand and summoned a makeup bag out of thin air. "Where ees the nearest washroom?"

"It's just –"

"I'll show you," Evan cut Rodolphus off. "This house is so huge, it's easy to get lost."

"Of course," Madelaine replied, looking delighted at Evan's offer, "lead ze way, monsieur."

When their friends left the room, Lucretia sunk down onto the arm of Rodolphus' chair. "We're finally alone," she said, smiling again at him.

"Probably not for long," he responded, glancing outside.

He looked back at her and into her dazzling blue eyes. He didn't know what was wrong with him – he had been with dozens of girls and had never felt this nervous before. Forcing his brain to work properly, he took her hand and kissed it.

"You look absolutely stunning."

"Thank you, my love," she said as she smiled gracefully at him and brushed her soft hand along his cheek. "I must say, I'm glad to see that you aren't some ugly troll. The thought of an arranged marriage has been terrifying, but I was so happy to see such a good-looking man waiting for me."

Unable to stop himself, Rodolphus reached up and pulled her onto his lap and began kissing her deeply. After a few minutes, they broke apart and Lucretia looked around the room.

"Do you think Madelaine found the washroom, alright?" she asked him.

"Well, seeing as how the nearest one is just on the other side of that wall, I'm guessing she's not in the washroom," Rodolphus informed her, smirking slightly. "I should probably warn you that my best man will attempt to seduce your maid of honour."

Madelaine laughed. It was an enchanting sound that gave Rodolphus goosebumps.

"Don't worry," she said, grinning at him. "I can guarantee you that Madelaine won't mind that one bit."

*.*.*

Later that evening as the reception was winding down, and guests were starting to go home, the newlyweds were walking around through the crowd to greet as many people as they could.

Rodolphus caught sight of Arabelle, standing alone, off to the side of the garden, with her arms crossed. She motioned to him to go over and join her, but he just gave her a small wave and turned away. He wasn't one to believe in love at first sight, but as soon as he saw Lucretia for the first time, all other girls were driven completely out of his mind. He couldn't believe that he had wanted to marry Arabelle Fawley when he had this beautiful, charming woman waiting for him.

"Congratulations, Mister Lestrange," came a voice from behind him. Rodolphus turned around and saw Abraxas Malfoy standing behind him. "And to the new Madam Lestrange," Malfoy added, bowing slightly to Lucretia.

"Thank you, Mister Malfoy," Rodolphus responded reflexively. "I'm glad you were able to attend today."

"So, will you be going away at all?" Malfoy asked. "Or will your father allow you any time away for a honeymoon?" He laughed and Rodolphus managed a small smile. Apparently, he wasn't the only one to know that Renier Lestrange was a rigid workaholic.

"Yes, we are leaving tomorrow to spend some time on the coast of France," Rodolphus responded. "Then we will stop in Paris for a few days at her parent's house before we come back home."

Behind Malfoy, Rodolphus saw Rabastan sitting at a nearby table with blonde boy, that he assumed was Malfoy's son. Rabastan had been watching the two men talk and, when Rodolphus commented on going away, the seven-year-old made a disgusted face.

"Well, enjoy your trip," Malfoy said. "We must be getting home. Are you ready to go, Nicolle?"

Behind him, his wife nodded. "Come, Lucius," she called to the blond-haired boy. "We are leaving."

The boy said goodbye to Rabastan and followed his parents out of the yard.

"Oh, Rodolphus, look!" Lucretia said, excitedly. "There is my Aunt Winnifred I was telling you about earlier. Let's go say hello. You will _love_ her!"

"Can I join you in a moment?" Rodolphus asked, nodding his head slightly in the direction of his brother.

Lucretia looked over at the boy, who was sitting at the table looking completely crestfallen.

"Of course, my love," she said, with smile at Rodolphus.

Rodolphus walked over to the table and sat down next to Rabastan.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," the boy replied, not looking up.

"Rab…," Rodolphus started.

"You said when you came back from school this year that you would be home to stay!" Rabastan cut him off, as he glared up at Rodolphus. "You said you didn't have to leave anymore!"

Rodolphus almost laughed, but he didn't want to upset his already distraught brother. At the end of last summer, he did tell Rabastan that he wouldn't be leaving anymore after that school year. Of course, he had meant he wouldn't be leaving for _school_ anymore; he forgot to mention to his younger brother that he would be taking off for a few days to go on a honeymoon with his new wife.

"I'm only going for a couple weeks, and then I will be back to stay – for good," Rodolphus assured him.

"But what about our plans?" Rabastan said, with a definite whine in his voice. "You said you were going to let me fly your broom all by myself this year and then teach me how to play Quidditch. And what about our trip to London? You promised that you would take me to Diagon Alley!"

"Keep your voice down, or you won't be doing anything at all," Rodolphus warned him, casting a quick glance around to make sure his father was out of earshot. "We can do all of that when I get back," Rodolphus whispered, reassuringly. "It's only two weeks."

This didn't seem to appease the seven-year-old, so Rodolphus tried a new approach.

"What if I bring you back a present from France? Will that make it better?"

"Two weeks is a long time, you know," Rabastan said, his scowl slowly fading into a pout.

"Maybe to you, but trust me, it will be over before you know it," Rodolphus informed him. "Just think, when I left for school I was gone for months. Two weeks is nothing compared to that."

"Only two weeks?" Rabastan asked, giving a sigh of resignation. "And then you come home?"

"I promise."

"And you will take me flying and we can spend a day in London?" the boy asked, his eyes brightening up a bit.

"We can do whatever you want," Rodolphus assured him, smiling. "As long as you don't go shouting about it around Father. Remember that we have to keep our plans quiet."

"Okay," Rabastan nodded in understanding.

"You will be fine," Rodolphus assured him, giving him a pat on the shoulder as he stood up. He started off in search of Lucretia, but then heard his brother shout to him.

"Rod – wait!"

"What?" he asked, turning back around.

"What kind of present are you going to bring me?" Rabastan asked with a grin.


	4. The New Heir

**Chapter 4: The New Heir**

_April 1964_

"Can I get you anything?" Rodolphus asked, pacing around the room.

"No thank you, my love," Lucretia said, wincing as another contraction hit her body. "My mother should be here any–," she gasped in pain and closed her eyes, "–moment." She opened her eyes and smiled up at him weakly.

Rodolphus said nothing as continued to pace around the room. They had only been married a few short weeks when Lucretia surprised him with the news that she was pregnant. He was thrilled with news, of course, and his father even seemed relieved by the news. It was the closest Rodolphus had ever seen something like approval in the man's eyes.

"We haven't decided on a name yet."

Rodolphus stopped pacing the room and looked over. Lucretia was laying in the bed, her eyes closed, breathing heavy. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, but some strands had come loose and were stuck to her face, which was red and covered with sweat. He couldn't help but think that she was still the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

"I thought you wanted Celeste for a girl?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," she replied, her eyes still closed, "but, what if it's a boy?"

"Then I get to choose the name," he stated. "Isn't that what we decided?"

"It should start with an 'R', right?"

He looked at her curiously as she opened her eyes.

"I just assumed that was something your family did – boy names starting with "R'," she explained. "Rodolphus, Rabastan, Renier...".

"The past couple generations that have done that, I suppose," Rodolphus said, thinking back through the family history that his father had made sure was drilled in his head, "but we don't have to. There have been plenty of others."

"I like Rhadé."

"_Raw-day_?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I've never heard of that name before."

"Well, I've never heard of _Rodolphus_ before I met you," she shot back, playfully. "Besides, I like unique names." She stopped talking as another wave of pain showed on her face.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Rodolphus crossed the room to open it. He thought for a moment that it might his mother. Earlier, he had sent one of the house elves to fetch her, so she could come help Lucretia through childbirth until her own mother arrived. Celine had sent the elf back to inform Rodolphus that she had better things to do than spend the day listening to his wife screaming. Barely able to stop himself from going to his mother's room to tell her off, he instead took his frustrations out on the elf, literally kicking the creature out of the room.

Upon opening the door, he saw that it was Bexie, the same elf that he had kicked out earlier. She bowed low to the ground, not meeting Rodolphus' eyes as she spoke.

"Monsieur and Madame Tremblay has arrived, Master," she squeaked, with a shaky voice.

Rodolphus' mother-in-law stepped around the elf and entered the room. She quickly greeted Rodolphus before rushing over to her daughter.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Lucretia.

"I'm fine, Mama," Lucretia said, sounding tired but cheerful all the same.

Rodolphus, now feeling a bit out of place, stood by the door. Traditionally men stayed out of the room until the baby came. He was hoping he would be able to go and have a quick drink – unless, Lucretia asked him to stay, of course.

"So… er… would you like me to stay with you?" he asked his wife.

Lucretia gave him a knowing smile. "No, my love, you may go if you wish."

Rodolphus walked back over to the bed and gave his wife a kiss on the forehead. "I will be downstairs if you need me."

He left their bedroom and walked down to second floor of the house. He could hear voices coming from the drawing room so he went that way.

Upon entering the room, he was surprised to see that his father had actually left his study. Renier was sitting in the room, speaking to Monsieur Tremblay and Evan Rosier. When Lucretia's labour pains started, Evan just happened to be over visiting and he asked Rodolphus if he could hang around and wait for the baby to come.

"Ah, Rodolphus, there you are!" Monsieur Tremblay said happily. "How is my Lucretia doing?"

"I think she's alright," Rodolphus answered his father-in-law, as he made his way to the sidebar to pour himself a drink. "She's in pain, of course, but still in good spirits."

"Have you guys decided on the name yet?" asked Evan, as Rodolphus sat down next to him. "Personally, I think _Evan_ would be a fantastic name for a boy."

Rodolphus and Monsieur Trembay laughed, but Renier sat and glared daggers at Evan. It was no secret to Rodolphus that his father despised his best friend, and he knew the only reason Renier even allowed Evan in the house was because of his surname and blood status.

"Naming the next heir of this family is no joke, Rosier," Renier said curtly to Evan. "If it is a boy, Rodolphus and I will be going over acceptable names later."

Rodolphus looked over at his father in surprise. This was the first he had heard about needing his father's permission to choose his son's name. He opened his mouth to say something but then thought better of it. He didn't want to argue with his father right now. This was a matter that he could deal with later.

The time seemed to pass by slowly as the men sat around, refilling their drinks every so often. Monsieur Tremblay pulled out a pack of cigars that he had saved for the occasion and passed them around. Rodolphus grew more nervous as time passed on. Surely someone would come soon to let him know that the baby had arrived or at least let him know how Lucretia was doing. While Renier, Monsieur Tremblay and Evan kept a conversation going, Rodolphus kept his eyes on the door. He was hardly taking in a word of what the men were saying.

Suddenly Sobie ran into the room, out of breath and shaking terribly.

"Master Rodolphus, sir!" he squeaked, then turned and bowed to Renier. "Master. Madam Lucretia is not well at all! I think she needs to go to the hospital, sirs!"

"Call for a Healer," Rodolphus commanded the elf, as he jumped up from his seat. He could feel panic setting in.

"Already done, Master," the elf squeaked. "He just arrived."

Rodolphus started out of the room, but the doorway was blocked by Bexie who had just run into the room.

"She has been transported to St. Mungo's, sir," Bexie informed Rodolphus in a trembling voice. She then turned to Monsieur Tremblay, whose face had gone ashen. "Excuse me, Monsieur Tremblay, but your wife has requested that you join her at the hospital."

"Of course," he said quietly, as he stood up to leave. Rodolphus could see that he was very shaken by the news.

"I'll come with you, sir," Rodolphus said.

"You do not need to go anywhere, Rodolphus," Renier said, abruptly. "I am sure the Healers know what they are doing. You would only be in their way."

Rodolphus stared at his father in mixture of shock and anger. "It's my _wife_ we are talking about!" Rodolphus exclaimed.

"You watch your tone with me, boy!" Renier snarled as he stood up and was face-to-face with Rodolphus.

Rodolphus glanced at Monsieur Tremblay, hoping for some assistance, but his father-in-law just shrugged and left the room. Obviously, he wasn't interested in getting between the two men.

"I will come too, Rodolphus," Evan said, glancing defiantly at Renier.

Rodolphus nodded to him and, after one last disgusted look at his father, he started toward the door again. When he reached it he almost literally ran into his mother.

"Where is that damn elf? It's past supper time," she said, looking into the room with a bored expression on her face. Rodolphus could smell the sherry on her breath.

"I don't know," Rodolphus replied, not caring at all where the elves had gone. "Lucretia has been taken to St. Mungo's. I'm going to the hospital."

"Yes, I heard you shouting," she said, in an uncaring tone. "I'm sure she will be fine."

"And if not, you are still young enough to remarry," Renier remarked cruelly, his cold eyes boring into Rodolphus. "Maybe the next one will be able to deliver children properly."

Temper flaring, Rodolphus reached for his wand, but Evan caught his arm.

"Just go," his friend urged in a whispered voice.

Rodolphus took his hand off his wand and roughly pushed past his mother. Without another glance at his parents, Rodolphus left the house and Disapparated to London, with Evan right behind him.

*.*.*

"Stop _pacing_, Rodolphus!" Lucretia said through clenched teeth, as Rodolphus walked up and down the room. "You're making me anxious!"

He stopped walking and turned to look at her.

"You almost died, Lucretia, so forgive me for being a bit upset!"

"I am perfectly fine now," she replied, even though she looked exhausted and her face was ashen. "Look, Rodolphus, we still don't know how our baby is doing, and you getting upset is not going to help the situation any."

Rodolphus' gaze softened as tears came to Lucretia's eyes. She was so worried about their newborn baby, who was in another room with the Healers.

Healer Williams, who had attended to Lucretia, told Rodolphus that everything happened very quickly. One moment, Lucretia was feeling fine, apart from the occasional contraction, and then suddenly there was blood everywhere and she had passed out. She delivered shortly after arriving at St. Mungo's and the Healers whisked the child away at once. Rodolphus and Lucretia had not yet set eyes on their child and didn't even know whether they had a son or daughter.

Rodolphus walked over and sat on the bed beside his wife. He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers for a moment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm not angry with you. I was just scared I was going to lose you."

"I know, my love," she replied, sniffling slightly. She wiped tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry too. I'm just worried that something bad happened to our baby."

There was a soft tap on the door and Rodolphus sat up as Healer Williams walked into the room, holding a clipboard.

"How are you feeling now, Madam Lestrange?"

"Is my baby okay?" she pleaded, ignoring his question.

"The baby's vitals have stabilized, and he is doing fine now," Healer Williams replied.

"_He_?" she asked, excitedly. "It's a boy?"

"Yes, didn't anyone tell you?" Healer Williams asked, looking surprised.

When they shook their heads, he continued, "They are just cleaning him up and you will be reunited with him very soon."

"A boy…," Lucretia said, happily. "Rodolphus, we have a boy!"

Rodolphus squeezed her hand. While he was happy with the news, he wanted to be sure that his wife was okay before he started celebrating.

"Will Lucretia be alright?" he asked, looking at the Healer.

"She will be fine," he said slowly, looking at clipboard for a moment. "You will need plenty of rest, Madam, and you will be sent home with tonics to help with the recovery. You will also need a blood-replenishing potion for the next couple days, as you lost a lot during the delivery."

Lucretia nodded, and agreed to take whatever she needed.

"There is something else you should know," Healer Williams said hesitantly.

He looked at them both before delicately saying, "While it is, of course, your decision, I would strongly advise you not to have any more children."

Lucretia frowned, looking confused. She looked first at Rodolphus and then turned back to the Healer. A small smile crossed her lips as though she thought he was joking.

"But this is only our first child. We plan on having more than one and I still need to have a girl," she said with a laugh.

"You must be aware that having this child has weakened you greatly," the Healer said. "Although you might be beginning to feel better now, you are very lucky to be alive." He glanced at Rodolphus for a moment before returning his attention to Lucretia. "I hate to sound blunt, Madam, but you likely would not live through another child birth."

Rodolphus looked at the stunned look on Lucretia's face. He was upset by the news, as well, but Lucretia's health was much more important to him than having more children.

"We don't need to discuss this right now," he said, reaching for Lucretia's hand again. "Let's just focus on our son, and on getting you better."

Lucretia looked like she was about to argue, but the door opened again, and a younger Healer entered, holding a baby wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Your family is asking to come in to see you," she said, as she passed the bundle to Lucretia. "Would you like me to let them in, or do you need some more time alone?"

"Just give us a moment and then you can let them in," Lucretia said, smiling down at her son. "If you wait much longer, my mother may blow down the door."

Rodolphus looked in awe at the little child in his wife's arms. He was sound asleep and looked comfortable wrapped up in his soft blanket.

The Healers left the room to let the small family have some alone time. It only lasted a couple minutes, however, because soon the door opened again, and Monsieur and Madame Tremblay entered, followed by Evan.

"You didn't have to wait around," Rodolphus said, standing up and walking over Evan, while Lucretia's parents went directly to her.

"I didn't have anything else to do anyway," Evan shrugged. He looked over at the baby in Lucretia's arms and grinned. "So, are you going to name him Evan?"

"I guess that's up to Rodolphus, since it's a boy," Lucretia said.

"His name is Rhadé," said Rodolphus proudly, looking down at his son.

Lucretia beamed at him, then looked around and said, "Well, then, I would like to formally introduce you all to Rhadé Renier Lestrange."

"No," Rodolphus said and everyone looked over at him curiously.

Lestrange family tradition decreed that the first born son would be given the middle name of the current head of the family. However, after his father's earlier comments about Lucretia, Rodolphus had no intention on naming his son after his father. Rodolphus glanced over to his best friend, who stood by his side since the day they met almost ten years ago. The decision was easy, despite the fact that he knew it would infuriate his father and he would pay dearly for it later.

"His name is Rhadé Evan Lestrange."


	5. The Old Friends

**Chapter 5: The Old Friends**

_October 1964_

One afternoon in late October, Rodolphus sat in his personal study writing up a report for his father. He had spent the previous three days attending long, tedious meetings with the _St. Mungo's Hospital Philanthropy Committee. _His father was a member of the committee, but ever since Rodolphus had left school, Renier began sending his son in his place to most of the meetings. Renier said that it was important for Rodolphus to learn about these types of things. Rodolphus knew that his father found the meetings as boring as he did and was happy for a way to get out of going to them. Of course, Renier still wanted to know everything that was discussed at these meetings and expected Rodolphus to provide him with a full, detailed report of everything that happened.

Finally finishing up a summary of the notes that he had taken at the meetings, Rodolphus sat the parchment aside, hoping his father would be satisfied with it. Although, thought Rodolphus, knowing how Renier was, there was sure to be something wrong with it.

Rodolphus stood up to stretch his legs and walked over to the window, looking out at the grounds. After being stuck in a boardroom for most of the week, Rodolphus was happy to have a day at home. He wanted to go seek out Lucretia and spend some time with her and Rhadé. Or, if Rhadé was napping, have a little one-on-one time with his wife. Now that their son was six months old, he kept Lucretia quite busy and alone time was something that Rodolphus and Lucretia had very little of lately.

Unfortunately, a stack of work had piled up on his desk during his absence and his afternoon was going to consist of opening and responding to the post - another task his father had gladly bestowed on him.

With a slight sigh, Rodolphus turned from the window and sat back down at his desk. He sorted through the usual mail: invitations to banquets, requests for donations of gold, and opportunities for interviews with the Daily Prophet - all of it was for his father. Over the past year, Rodolphus had been learning how to respond to most of it: who got gold and who didn't; which invitations to accept and which to decline... Occasionally, Rodolphus would often come across something that looked a bit dodgy, but he learned early on not to question it. His father made it quite clear that he would tell Rodolphus what he needed to know, when he needed to know it.

As he shuffled through the pile of envelopes, trying to decide which to tackle next, one caught his eye. He pulled it out and looked at it curiously. Unlike most of their post, which came addressed to his father, this letter was addressed to him. What caught his attention, however, was a tiny drawing in the corner of the envelope: it was a rough sketch of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. He recognized it at once, even though he hadn't seen it over two years.

He opened the envelope and took out the letter, unsure if the feeling he had was excitement or apprehension.

_Lestrange –  
__I am back in the country and would like to get together for a drink.  
__Can you meet me at the Golden Sphinx Pub in Birmingham, on 28 October at 23:00?  
__– L.V._

Rodolphus stared at the signature. He knew exactly what L.V. stood for. Remembering the name that Tom Riddle had started using among his friends during his final year of school, he wondered if his old schoolmate was going exclusively by that name now. Riddle had once confided in him about how much he loathed the name "Riddle" and, even more so, his first name "Tom".

_"Such a common, ordinary name," _Riddle had told him._ "It's so easy to forget. Someday I will have a name that will be remembered by everyone."_

Reading over the letter again, Rodolphus wondered if he should go meet Riddle. The twenty-eighth was only two days from now, so he didn't have much time to decide. A couple years ago, he would have dropped everything if Tom Riddle wanted to see him, but a lot had changed since then. To be honest, Rodolphus hadn't even given Riddle much thought of late. The others in their old gang had moved on with their lives, too. Avery and Wilkes were both married with children. Nott wasn't married yet, but he kept busy with other family responsibilities. Evan, of course, hadn't changed much as far as adult obligations were concerned, but even still, he wasn't the same person that he was at Hogwarts.

Why was Riddle back now, Rodolphus wondered, and what would he expect from his old friends?

*.*.*

_Two days later…_

Rodolphus Apparated into an alleyway in Birmingham and saw Evan leaning against the wall, waiting for him. Evan had also received a letter from Riddle, so they made plans to go to the pub together.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show," Evan said, with a smirk.

"I did have second thoughts," admitted Rodolphus, with a small shrug. "On one hand, I could come to this dingy, filthy alleyway and meet you; or, on the other hand, I could have stayed in bed with my beautiful wife."

"Tough decision," Evan grinned. "Thanks for choosing me, mate."

They began to walk out of the alley, but before they reached the high street, Rodolphus he heard a _pop_ behind him. He drew his wand quickly and pointed it at the man that had just appeared.

"Lestrange?" the other man asked, holding his hands up in a defensive manner. "Rosier?"

"Avery?" Rodolphus asked, lowering his wand. "What are you doing here?"

Avery reached into his pocket and retrieved an envelope with a snake and skull picture.

"He asked to you to meet him too?" Evan asked.

Avery nodded, as he put the envelope back in his pocket. "Shall we go? Its's almost eleven."

The Golden Sphinx Pub was a small pub that was situated on a busy Muggle street. Naturally, the entrance to the pub wasn't visible to the Muggles around it, but Rodolphus and the others easily saw the shabby-looking door that seemed to be squeezed in between two brick office buildings.

They walked through the door and entered into a dimly-lit, crowded pub. Rodolphus looked around through the smoke-filled air and finally spotted who he was looking for. Riddle was sitting at a table in the back corner, but he wasn't alone: Tomas Nott and George Wilkes were sitting with him.

Riddle nodded to the newcomers as they approached the table but said nothing as they sat down. Rodolphus noticed that his old friend had changed significantly since he last saw him. This Riddle seemed much older somehow, and there was _something_ about him that was different, but Rodolphus couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was.

Avery offered to go buy their drinks and, after he returned, Evan finally broke the silence.

"How long have you been back?"

"Only four days," Riddle replied. "I've been keeping a low profile. There are certain people who I am trying to avoid."

"Dumbledore?" Rodolphus asked quietly.

"Yes, he is certainly one." Rodolphus thought he saw a red gleam in Riddle's eyes, but a moment later it was gone, and he was sure he must have imagined it.

"So, are you back to stay?" Wilkes asked, looking hopeful.

"I hope to," Riddle said, as he pulled out his wand. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then waved it, muttering a spell to ensure their privacy. He then looked around at each one of them.

"I've been wondering," Riddle said, tentatively, "if you all remember the plans we made a few years ago for the purification of the world. Putting Muggles in their rightful place, while we Wizards rise up to be the masters that we were born to be."

Each man nodded but didn't say a word. Glancing around at his companions, Rodolphus noticed that they all looked somewhat hesitant to say anything and he knew why. This wasn't the Slytherin common room; now that they were grown men, speaking of such things could earn them a one-way ticket to Azkaban.

"So, who would like to join me?" Riddle asked. "I've been recruiting in other places as well, and already have a few who have signed up. Before I begin any plans, however, I want to offer the opportunity to my oldest and dearest friends."

"I'm in," Evan stated, without delay.

"Me as well," Wilkes responded, right after him.

Riddle nodded and looked between Rodolphus, Avery and Nott. Rodolphus assumed that the other two were thinking the same as him: they were all heirs to their families and were under constant pressure to ensure their family names be kept clean and respectable. Since Evan was third-born in his family and Wilkes had cousins ahead of him to take over as the head of the family, they didn't have the same burdens placed upon on them.

Then Rodolphus caught Evan's eye and his fate was sealed. He knew he couldn't let Evan do this without him – they did almost everything together. After all, he reasoned with himself, they were doing this to better the world. Why should wizards and witches sit in hiding, scared to perform magic lest some Muggle sees them? Muggles should be aware of the existence of the Wizarding World, so they can respect it and bow down to their betters.

"Count me in as well," Rodolphus assured Riddle, as Evan grinned and slapped him on the back. Once Rodolphus had agreed, Avery and Nott signed up as well.

"We have to be very careful, though," Avery said. "My family can't find out about this. Not yet, anyway."

Rodolphus nodded in agreement. He felt a twinge of guilt as he thought of Lucretia and his young son at home. He didn't want to do anything to put them in danger.

"We will be cautious, of course," Riddle replied. "This will not be a quick development. It's not as though we can just strut into the Ministry of Magic tomorrow morning and expect them hand control over to us. We need to start recruiting and then we can get our names out there."

"Not our real names, I hope?" Nott asked, looking wary.

"No, we will need a name for our… organization," Riddle said thoughtfully. "Something for you all to think about before we meet again." Riddle looked around at them for a moment, before continuing. "As you might have noticed from the letters you all received, I no longer go by my old name. Tom Riddle is gone forever. I am now known as Lord Voldemort and expect to be addressed as such. This is something you all must consent to if you want to work with me."

The five men around the table nodded in understanding and agreed.

For the next couple hours, they sat around the table catching up and, after making plans to meet again in a fortnight, they all stood up to leave. As Rodolphus walked out of the small pub, he glanced back at his old school friends, wondering what he was getting himself into.


	6. The Death Eaters

**Chapter 6: The Death Eaters**

_March 1965_

_"There has been another violent incident involving a Muggle family this past week. It is clear to the professionals in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that this is the work of Wizards due to the obvious use of both the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse. A__uror Alastor Moody reported that this recent murder, which involved a family of six Muggles, is one the worst cases he has seen yet in his career._

_"_'The brutality of it is unspeakable,' _Moody quoted in an interview with the Daily Prophet. _'We must do all we can to put an end to this now and catch the individual or individuals responsible before anyone else gets hurt.'

_"Wizard and Muggle tensions have been low in previous years, but if we look back to when the Statute of Secrecy was passed in 1692… _blah blah blah… it just goes on to talk about when Wizards went into hiding three hundred years ago."

Evan stopped reading and threw the newspaper down on the table.

"Do you think we need to be more careful?" asked Rodolphus, looking over at the Dark Lord. "It sounds like they are finding connections between the murders."

The Dark Lord didn't respond. He was pacing around the room, seemingly lost in thought.

"We need to practice on someone," Evan interjected. "This is exactly why I hate our Ministry. Why the hell do they care if a bunch of Muggles snuff it?"

For the past few months, their group, now formally dubbed the _Death Eaters_, had been breaking into random Muggle homes and practicing new spells, under the guidance of the Dark Lord.

Currently the Death Eaters consisted of only six members. Apart from the Dark Lord, there was Rodolphus, Evan, Wilkes, Avery, Nott and Antonin Dolohov. The Dark Lord had met Dolohov while he was travelling, and Dolohov, obviously intrigued by the Dark Lord, followed his new master back to Britain. They had plans to increase their numbers and had all been quietly recruiting others to join their cause.

"The day will come when we purposely leave the Muggles or other victims for the authorities to find, with the Dark Mark ostentatiously shining in the air," the Dark Lord finally replied. "But I agree with you, Lestrange: we aren't quite there yet. Perhaps it would be best to kidnap the Muggles and bring them back here. There will be less evidence that way.

"Lestrange," the Dark Lord commanded, "Rosier... you two can go find a couple of suitable candidates and bring them back here."

"Yes, my Lord," they replied in unison, as they stood up, preparing to leave.

"But before you go, I have one other matter to discuss."

Rodolphus and Evan sat back down and everyone in the room gave their leader their full attention.

"As we have been discussing, we will soon have new members joining us," the Dark Lord began. "I think this will create the necessity to make a few changes. First of all, your masks are to be worn during meetings, to keep your identities hidden. Until we know that we can trust our new allies, it wouldn't do well to have some traitor turn you all in."

Everyone around the room nodded in agreement.

"Next," the Dark Lord continued, "since your faces will be concealed, it will, I think, be imperative to have some form of identification to prove you are a part of the Death Eaters. We will use the Dark Mark, of course, as the distinguishing sign."

"That's a great idea, my Lord," Wilkes said.

"I haven't finished," the Dark Lord smirked at him. "I have created a spell to burn the Dark Mark onto the arm of each of you. It will serve not only as identification, but also as a means of communication. This spell creates an eternal bond that will unite us all."

There was silence as everyone in the room stared at the Dark Lord, each apparently at a loss for words.

"My Lord," Avery nervously spoke after a moment, "may I ask why you want to do it this way? Perhaps a more discreet form of communication would be better?"

"Afraid of a little pain, Avery?" the Dark Lord asked scornfully.

"No, my Lord," Avery replied, looking slightly chastised. "My only concern is having a mark on my arm that matches one that we will eventually be leaving at the scene of a murder. With all due respect, Master, I do not wish to spend the rest of my life in Azkaban."

"Then I would suggest you leave your sleeves down," the Dark Lord replied indifferently. He looked away from Avery and turned his attention to the others in the room. "As always, the choice is yours. However, if you do not wish to participate, I will have to ask you to leave now and not be involved in any more of our plans. I will also be required to perform a memory charm on you, in case you decide to let slip what we have been up to for the past few months."

The men looked at one another uncomfortably; obviously, no one wanted to be the first to accept.

"I will do it, my Lord," Dolohov finally spoke up. "Which arm would you like to place it?"

"Me as well," Evan chimed in. He caught Rodolphus' eye and looked at him expectantly.

Rodolphus glanced over at Avery, who still looked hesitant, then back at Evan, the eagerness of being involved in the Dark Lord's plans was apparent on his face. Not seeing any other way out of the situation, Rodolphus was the next to accept.

"Certainly, my Lord," Rodolphus responded. "If this is what you want to do, then I'm in."

*.*.*

It was after three o'clock in the morning when Rodolphus finally arrived back home. He walked through the door and tried to sneak quietly up to his room, so he wouldn't wake anyone.

It had been a few hours since the Dark Mark was burned into Rodolphus' left forearm and his entire arm was still stinging sharply. When the spell was performed, Rodolphus could feel a powerful sensation seeping from his skin right down to his bones, before it spread throughout his body.

As Rodolphus made his way down the hall of the second floor, he passed his father's study and noticed that the door was ajar and a light was on inside the room. Hoping the man just forgot to put out the lanterns when he went to bed, he continued past the room, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Rodolphus."

Rodolphus jumped and his heart sank as he turned back toward the sound of his father's voice. With his legs feeling like they were made of lead, he entered his father's study. He vaguely wondered if the man ever slept.

"Are you just getting in now?" Renier asked, as he looked up from his usual seat behind his desk. "Where have you been?""

"I was just out with some friends, Father," Rodolphus replied. He silently thanked the Dark Lord for teaching him Occlumency as he mentally put up the walls in his mind to block any thoughts or emotions from his father.

"Which friends?"

"Evan Rosier, Tomas Nott, Prescott Avery... we just went out for a few drinks to catch up."

"Just a few drinks," Renier repeated, looking suspicious. "That's what kept you out all night?"

"Yes, sir."

Renier nodded slowly. He still looked doubtful but must have decided not to press the issue.

"You will accompany me to the Ministry tomorrow morning," he informed Rodolphus. "There are some individuals there I would like you to meet."

"Yes, sir," replied Rodolphus again. When his father didn't say anything else, Rodolphus said, "Is it alright if I go to bed now, Father?"

Renier looked him over again carefully, as Rodolphus stood before him, trying to close his mind and hide the fact that his arm felt like it was on fire.

"Yes," his father finally replied, "you may go."

Rodolphus left his study and headed straight for bed. Without even changing out of his robes, he collapsed onto the mattress beside his wife and fell asleep almost immediately.

*.*.*

"What the hell is that?" Rodolphus woke up to the sound of his wife's surprised voice. As he opened his eyes slightly, he saw Lucretia move toward him and grab his arm. "Did you get a new tattoo last night?"

Rodolphus hissed in pain and pulled his arm back forcefully. Fully awake now, he sat up and looked toward the clock beside their bed. It was only six o'clock in the morning. He had gotten less than three hours of sleep last night.

"Rodolphus?"

He looked toward his wife, who was still staring at him in disbelief.

"Sorry," he said, yawning. "I'm not quite awake yet."

He glanced down to the Dark Mark on his arm. In the night it had changed from black to a vivid red and, while it was no longer paining, it was still quite sore - almost like a bad bruise.

"It's kind of like a tattoo," he told her. "A bunch of us got them."

"What does it represent?"

"Well… I guess it's for Slytherin, my old Hogwarts House… you know, with the snake."

He got out of bed and walked into their adjoined bathroom. He splashed some water on his face and looked in the mirror, to see his Lucretia standing behind him, with her arms crossed.

"I'm going to need some more information," she said, stubbornly. "You can start with telling me why there is blood on your robes."

Rodolphus looked down and saw patches of dried blood from their training session last night. He mentally cursed himself for not cleaning them off properly and walked back into the bedroom toward the wardrobe. He shrugged off his dirty robes and grabbed a clean set. As he buttoned them up, he glanced over to his wife.

"Father wants me to accompany him to the Ministry this morning," he informed her. "He will probably be sending the elf to get me soon."

He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached for his shoes, while Lucretia stood glaring at him with her arms still crossed. Rodolphus smiled at her, slightly amused by her irritation.

"And when I return," he continued, "I shall tell you everything: what I've been doing with my friends and what this mark on my arm means."

"Do you promise?" she asked as she sat down next to him, the anger slowly ebbing away from her face. "Because I know you've been up to something and I think Evan is involved too. I want to know everything, Rodolphus."

"You will know _everything_," he promised her. "I've kept this from you for too long already."

He leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her lips. As he started to back away, she pulled him in and kissed him harder. He lightly pushed her onto the bed and climbed on top of her. He kissed her neck, moving slowly down to her shoulder, while she began unbuttoning his robes.

Suddenly, they heard Rhadé calling for Lucretia from behind the curtains on his crib, which sat on the far side of their room. Lucretia sighed and gave Rodolphus a little smile.

"Sorry, my love, he comes first."

Rodolphus moved off her so she could get up. He re-buttoned his robes and put on his shoes. Just as he was about to grab his cloak, there was a knock on the door.

"Master Rodolphus, sir," Sobie called from the other side of the door. "The Master is waiting for you downstairs. He says he wants to leave soon."

"Tell him I will be right there," he instructed the elf.

He looked over to the crib, where Lucretia was lifting their son out, and smiled at the sight of them. Rhadé was now almost a year old and Rodolphus knew that he was getting too old to be in their room. More than once, he had mentioned moving Rhadé into one of the other bedrooms, but every time he brought it up, Lucretia got very defensive on the matter.

Lucretia turned around and saw Rodolphus watching her.

"You have to leave now?" she asked, sounding a little sad.

"Yes, you know what he's like when I don't do as he says," replied Rodolphus, feeling annoyed that he had to be stuck at the Ministry with his father instead of at home with his wife and son. "I will see you when I return."

He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers again, making it even harder to leave.

"And you as well, my son," he added, as he pulled back from Lucretia and gave his son a kiss on the head.

"Bye-bye Dada," Rhadé called, as Rodolphus left the room.

Rodolphus grinned at the sound of his son's voice, feeling very content with his life right now – even if he did have to spend the rest of the day with his father.


	7. The Confrontation

**Chapter 7: The Confrontation**

_April 1966_

Rodolphus watched as Wilkes approached the edge of the property. The man glanced around warily, then took off at a run toward the house. Suddenly, he was thrown backwards into the air and landed hard on the ground. Rodolphus was barely able to suppress a laugh as Wilkes glared over at him.

"I thought you took the wards down," hissed Wilkes, getting to his feet.

"So did I," Rodolphus replied in a whisper. "I must have missed one. Just a minute." He pointed his wand at the spot where Wilkes was thrown backwards and muttered a complicated spell under his breath. Feeling satisfied that it worked this time, he turned back to Wilkes. "Try it now."

"No way," Wilkes shot back. "You try it!"

Rodolphus squared his shoulders and walked purposefully toward to the house. When he reached the door, he looked back at his partner.

"See?" he whispered. "All good."

Wilkes nodded and rushed over to where Rodolphus stood.

After unlocking the door with his wand, Rodolphus quietly turned the knob. They stepped into the house and Wilkes gently closed the door behind him. They crept through the rooms, looking around cautiously, until they finally found who they were looking for in a sitting room at the back of the house. Rodolphus and Wilkes stood in the doorway for a moment, silently watching the couple.

The man, a wizard by the name of Genson Watters, was sitting in an armchair, with his back to them, reading a novel. His wife was sitting on a couch, facing them but looking down at her knitting, counting stitches. Suddenly, as though she sensed something, the wife looked up and gasped when she saw the two men.

"What is it, dear?" Watters asked his wife, looking up from his book. Seeing her expression, Watters spun around and saw the masked Death Eaters, who were standing mere inches from him.

"Good evening," Wilkes greeted him, as though they were all long-time friends. "We were wondering if you would mind coming with us, Mister Watters?"

"What the hell?" he asked, sounding terrified. He jumped out of his chair and backed away, as he stared into their concealed faces. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Get out of my house!"

Watters reached for his wand, but Rodolphus was quicker. He shot a spell that knocked the man backwards into the wall and sent his wand flying across the room. Watters groaned slightly, looking up at them.

"What do you want with me?" he asked desperately. "I have done nothing to you. Please just leave us be!" His wife nodded earnestly next to him, tears flowing down her face.

"I've already told you," Wilkes replied. "We want you to come with us. We just have a few questions for you."

Watters glanced at his wife before looking back at them. "If I come with you," he asked, "will you leave my wife alone? I want her to remain unharmed."

"Gen, no!" she shouted, jumping up from the couch. She stood in front of him, as if she were blocking him from their view.

"We don't have time for this," Rodolphus muttered to Wilkes. The Dark Lord was expecting them to be back by now.

Wilkes nodded and pointed his wand at Watters.

_"Imperio!"_

Instantly, Watters whole body relaxed, and his face took on a serene expression.

"Mister Watters, would you please accompany me?" Wilkes asked in a sarcastic tone. Without hesitating, Watters walked around his wife toward Wilkes.

"No!" his wife shouted, trying without success to hold him back. "Genson, what are you doing?" She started toward them, drawing her own wand.

"_Stupefy!_"

Before Mrs Watters had even raised her arm, a red beam shot from Rodolphus' wand, hitting the woman directly in the chest and causing her to collapse on the floor. Watters watched the scene blankly as he waited for further instructions from Wilkes.

"Okay, Watters, let's go," Wilkes commanded, placing his hand around Watter's arm as an extra precaution. He glanced back at Rodolphus. "Better grab his wand. _He_ might want it."

Rodolphus nodded and walked over to retrieve the man's wand off the floor before following Wilkes and their hostage out of the house.

They Apparated back to the Dark Lord's current residence and led Watters into the house, where they found their master sitting at the table looking through some old books. He looked up as they entered the room.

"We have him, my Lord," Wilkes said, bowing his head slightly.

Watters walked into the room and stared ahead blankly. The Dark Lord raised his eyebrows, looking at them questioningly.

"He Imperiused him," Rodolphus explained, nodding toward Wilkes as he passed Watters' wand to the Dark Lord.

"Remove it," the Dark Lord instructed Wilkes. "I need his mind clear to give us the information we need. Was he alone?"

"His wife was home, but I stunned her," Rodolphus reported, as Wilkes removed the curse from Watters, who was now aware of what was going on and let out a shout of surprise. Their captive tried to back out of the room, but Rodolphus caught him and threw him roughly into a chair. "She should be passed out for an hour, at least," Rodolphus finished.

"Good," the Dark Lord replied, wordlessly sending ropes from his wand, securing Watters to the chair. "I need one of you to remain – I don't care which – and the other can leave."

"You better go," Wilkes told Rodolphus. "You're probably in enough trouble as it is."

Rodolphus was interested in staying behind to watch the Dark Lord interrogate the man. For the past couple months, the Dark Lord had been instructing his Death Eaters to abduct certain individuals. Unlike most of their kidnapped victims, who were usually random people that were easy to take, these captives were not being used for training purposes. The Dark Lord would gather information he wanted, and then usually release the captive with a strong memory charm in place. Rodolphus had yet to find out what information the Dark Lord was seeking, and he knew better than to ask.

However, as tempting as it was to stay with the Dark Lord, Wilkes was right; Rodolphus probably was in trouble – with his wife. It was Rhadé's second birthday and Lucretia had planned a special supper party for him with their closest friends. Just as the guests began arriving, the Dark Lord had summoned Rodolphus and he had to leave, without having a chance to properly apologize to his wife.

Rodolphus slapped Wilkes lightly on the back in a show of thanks and bowed to the Dark Lord before leaving the room.

*.*.*

As Rodolphus arrived back at the Lestrange Estate, he wondered how angry Lucretia was going to be with him. It had been just over a year since he told Lucretia about the Dark Lord and Death Eaters. At first, she had been upset and slightly appalled by the whole situation; but the more he explained it to her, the more she understood why he was involved. After all, she had the same opinions as him when it came to Mudbloods and Muggles being allowed in the Wizarding World.

The only issue they had now was coming up with various excuses to feed others when Rodolphus was suddenly called away. He always worried about her having to cover for him when he had to make an abrupt departure, especially since he knew that his father would question Lucretia relentlessly about his absence. She handled it fine, though, and told him that she could deal with his family. Yet, tonight, Rodolphus was sure that Lucretia would not appreciate having to lie to over a dozen guests about his whereabouts.

When he entered the house, it was completely silent. The door to his father's study was shut when Rodolphus passed by. Assuming his father was most likely on the other side of that door, he gave a sigh of relief when he made it to the staircase without being called back by the older man.

Once he made it to his bedroom, he opened the door and heard sobs coming from the bathroom. Feeling worse than ever for upsetting his wife so badly, he went over to door and knocked on it lightly.

"Lucretia?"

A loud sniff and a teary-sounding '_Just a minute'_ came from the other side. A moment later the door opened, and Lucretia walked out.

"I'm so sorry," Rodolphus murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "I didn't want to be gone so long."

"It's fine, my love," she said. "I understand that you need to go when he calls for you." She pulled away from him and gave him a small smile.

"Are you sure?" he asked, feeling a bit confused. Why would she say its fine, when she's this upset?

She started to nod, then broke down again and started sobbing into his chest. He felt terrible for upsetting his wife this badly.

"I promise, I try will make it up to you," he said, as he stoked her hair, trying to get her to calm down. "It's not as though Rhadé will remember if I was there anyway, right? Maybe this weekend, the three of us can go do something together. Would you like that?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I mean, yes, of course, that sounds wonderful. But I'm not upset with you, my love. I told you, I understand that you had to miss the party. It's not a big deal."

"Then, what's wrong?" he asked, utterly perplexed now. "Why are you crying?"

She looked away from him and took a deep breath, then she began unbuttoning her robes, letting them fall down her body a bit.

He gasped in shock: her back, stomach and ribs were covered in large purple and black bruises.

"What happened to you?" he asked, feeling appalled by the amount of bruising on her.

"Can you heal them, please?" Lucretia sighed, with tears still falling from her eyes. "It hurts so bad to move. That's why I'm crying, my love. You know I don't do well with pain."

"I need to know what happened," he said again.

"Please, Rodolphus," she begged, looking at him beseechingly.

Rodolphus sighed and skillfully moved his wand across her back and front, making the large bruises disappear. From his own experiences, he knew that his healing spell would take away the all of the discolouration, but only some of the pain. She would most likely still be sore for a few days.

"Okay, they're gone," he told her, when he had finished. "Now, tell me what happened."

She pulled her robes back on and sat down gingerly on the bed, wiping away some of her tears. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to do anything stupid."

"Fine," he said, waving his hand impatiently. "Just tell me."

"It was your father," she said quietly. "He questioned me about where you were. I gave him the usual excuses, but he kept asking me more questions. Finally, I got a bit too defensive and told him to mind his own business. Then…" She choked back a sob. "Then, he struck me."

"He hit you?" Rodolphus asked, outraged.

"He slapped me a couple of times and then used a spell on me that was really painful." She looked scared and defeated as she took a deep breath. "Then he told me that if I didn't soon learn my place, that he would get rid of me."

Rodolphus stood in front of her, completely speechless. How could his father do this? Obviously, Renier Lestrange was anything but a kind man; Rodolphus had received his own fair share of beatings over the years, but for his father to raise a hand – or wand, for that matter – to Lucretia was completely unacceptable.

His brain finally catching up to what was happening, Rodolphus turned and headed for the door. He reached for the handle, but Lucretia grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Please, my love, you promised you wouldn't do anything stupid!" she pleaded with him.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid," Rodolphus said, as he tried to shake her hand off.

"Then where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to kill my father," he replied in an eerily calm voice.

"_Rodolphus_!"

"Stay here. Do not leave this room." Seeing the terrified look in her eyes, he tried to reassure her. "I'm just going to _talk_ to him. Nothing else."

She looked skeptical but nodded and released his arm. He left the room and quickly made his way back down to the next level of the house. Reaching his father's study, he knocked once and entered without waiting for a response.

Renier, who had been looking down at some paperwork on his desk, looked up in surprise at his son's intrusion.

"Rodolphus," he said threateningly, making it obvious that he didn't appreciate his son barging into his office uninvited. "Can I help you with something?"

Rodolphus kicked the door behind him and heard it slam shut. He remembered how he used to feel terrified to come into his father's study, but those days were gone. Now he was one of the infamous masked men who went around torturing and killing those unworthy to practice magic. He had practiced dark, powerful curses more times than he could count. He knew he had no reason to fear his father any longer.

Walking over to his father's mahogany desk, he stared the older Lestrange directly in the eye.

"If you ever, _ever_ lay a hand on my wife again, you will pay dearly for it," Rodolphus said, his voice lowering to growl as he leaned in towards his father.

Renier gave a humorless laugh and stood up, sneering at his son.

"And, what exactly does that mean, Rodolphus?" he taunted. "What are you planning to do to me?" Rodolphus didn't respond and his father continued smirking at him. "I am the head of this family and I will deal with you and your stupid little wife however I damn well please. She should have been put in her place years ago."

The insult to Lucretia caused Rodolphus' temper to reach a boiling point. He reached for his wand, but Renier was just as quick. Both men stood in the office, wands pointed directly at one another. Renier was the first to fire a curse, which Rodolphus easily blocked. It rebounded and hit a small glass ornament, which shattered into several pieces. His father tried again and Rodolphus deflected the curse almost lazily. This wasn't even close to the intense dueling that he and his friends had been doing over the past couple years.

"Been practicing, have you, boy?" Renier jeered, his eyes narrowed at his son.

"Oh, you have no idea how much _practicing_ I've been doing of late, Father," Rodolphus said, smirking. "Do you want to know where I've been all these nights when I disappear? Do you really want to know what I've been doing?" He reached down and pulled back his sleeve, revealing the bright red tattoo to his father. Rodolphus watched with great satisfaction as his father's eyes grew large.

"That mark!" exclaimed Renier, who looked shocked as his eyes traveled from Rodolphus' arm to his face. "That was in the paper a few days ago... You are one of the wizards involved with all those violent Muggle murders!"

"Yes, I am," Rodolphus replied calmly, lowering his sleeve again.

"Do you have any idea what that could do for our family's reputation?" hissed his father venomously.

"I'm doing this _for_ our family," Rodolphus said as he rolled his eyes, "and for blood purity. I want my son to grow up in a world where he doesn't have to hide from stupid, dirty Muggles every day."

"And to achieve this, you go around killing whomever you feel like?" sneered Renier. "The Ministry believes that this group is acting on the orders of some sort of _leader_. So you follow some lunatic around doing whatever he tells you to?"

"Don't talk about him like that," Rodolphus said quietly. "You have no idea the things I've learned from him. I could torture you into insanity and break your mind into a thousand pieces, or I could make you bend to my will and do my bidding, if I so wished. I am now stronger and more powerful than you could ever dream of being, Father."

"_You_ are nothing more than a disgrace to this family!" Renier spat out, his eyes flashing.

They stared at each other for a moment, a look of loathing apparent in each one's eyes.

"Obviously I've been far too easy on you of late, Rodolphus," Renier finally said, in a calm, condescending voice. "You have forgotten your place. Do I need to punish you again as I did when you were a child? Perhaps we need to take another trip down to the dungeon?"

Rodolphus glared at the man. How dare he bring that up now? He tried – unsuccessfully – to push away the memory that came into his head. When Rodolphus was fourteen, his father drug him down to the dungeon under their house and tortured him until he passed out. When he finally awoke, he was hanging from the ceiling, his wrists held tightly in manacles that were suspended from a large beam. He remembered shouting constantly for his father to come get him, but it was three days before the man decided to release his son. To this day, Rodolphus couldn't even remember what he had done wrong to deserve the punishment.

"You must remember that, don't you, son?" Renier asked, smiling maliciously at Rodolphus. "You screamed so loudly that you barely had a voice left by the end of it."

Rodolphus stood there, shaking. He had never felt angrier in his life as his father continued talking.

"Perhaps we should try the same thing to your idiotic wife, so she can remember her place as well," Renier suggested, with a dark chuckle. "But, then again, I don't think she would survive three days. The Cruciatus I used on her earlier tonight almost did her in."

Without really realizing what the was doing, Rodolphus raised his wand and pointed it directly at his father's heart.

"You don't have the nerve to curse me, boy," sneered Renier.

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

His father's eyes widened slightly as he tried to block the curse, but his attempt was futile. Green light filled the room and Rodolphus watched his father hit the floor. Renier's eyes were open, staring vacantly at the ceiling.

Gripping his wand tightly, Rodolphus backed up until he hit the wall, then felt himself slide down to the floor. He was trembling like mad as he stared at the dead man in front of him.

"Oh fuck," whispered Rodolphus. "What did I just do?"


	8. The Funeral

**Chapter 8: The Funeral**

_April 1966_

Rodolphus woke up to ringing of his alarm clock. He slowly rolled over and shut it off. Opening his eyes wider, he saw that it was still dark out. He glanced back to the clock and remembered he had set the alarm for four o'clock in the morning.

Rodolphus contemplated rolling back over, wrapping his arms around his wife and going back to sleep for a few hours. He knew he couldn't, though, as today was the day of his father's funeral. It was going to be an extremely busy day and he had lots of things to take care of before the guests turned up after lunch.

He held back a sigh as he crawled out of bed and began searching around the floor for the robes he discarded last night. After pulling them on, he tiptoed out the door and shut it softly behind him.

Rodolphus walked downstairs to his father's study – no, _his_ study now, he reminded himself – and sat down at the large desk.

It had been four days since he uttered the curse that had ended his father's life and Rodolphus still had a hard time believing that the man that he had feared and despised for twenty-one years was gone.

Since the incident, Rodolphus had been caught up in a whirlwind of investigations with Healers and Ministry Officials. Fortunately, late yesterday afternoon, the Ministry finally closed their case and informed Rodolphus that they were satisfied with the explanation of Renier's wand backfiring on him, causing his untimely demise. It hadn't been easy to trick his father's wand into thinking it had performed a fatal spell (it was much easier to erase the spell that had come out of Rodolphus' own wand), but Rodolphus had managed to do it in the end. So far, only Lucretia and Evan knew the truth.

Sobie appeared in the office, carrying a tray with a mug of coffee and plate of sausages.

"I thought you might like your breakfast in here today, Master," the elf said, setting the tray on the table off to the side of the desk, before turning to Rodolphus with a low bow. "I know you is very busy today, sir. Is there anything Sobie can help Master with?"

"Yes," he replied, barely looking up from the final report that he received from the Ministry, stating that Renier's death had been deemed accidental. "There will be a lot of people in and out of here today, so we will have to lower the security around the front entrance of the property. There are also flowers being delivered later this morning - you can have them placed out back. The guests should be arriving around one-thirty this afternoon and you may need to help some of them to their seats in the garden." He glanced up at the elf again. "Is outside set up yet?"

"Yes, Master, me and Bexie finished setting everything up last night."

"You will also have to ensure all the food is ready and set up in the ballroom when the service ends."

"Bexie has been cooking all night for it. It will all be ready, and we will put it in the ballroom during the service, Master."

Rodolphus nodded to the elf and continued,

"Rabastan and Rhadé might need help with their dress robes if Lucretia is busy getting herself ready. Everyone should be presentable and ready to greet the guests by one o'clock in case some people arrive early."

"Yes, Master," Sobie replied, dutifully. "Sobie will look after the boys for you. Master does not have to worry about them at all today."

"I think that's it," Rodolphus said, rubbing his temples as he tried to think of anything else he needed the servants to do. As Sobie bowed and began walking from the room, he remembered something. "One more thing, Sobie."

"Yes, Master?" the elf asked eagerly, as he spun around.

"Try to make sure my mother stays sober until the guests leave," Rodolphus said with a sigh, knowing he was asking for something nearly impossible. Sobie gave him a worried look but nodded as he bowed himself out of the room.

*.*.*

Ten-year-old Rabastan walked down the hall toward his nephew's room. To be honest, Rabastan felt that Rhadé was more like a brother to him than a nephew, but he liked calling himself an uncle – it made him feel much older and more important. As he reached Rhadé's room, he heard voices, so he stood outside and peeked in.

"Please stand still, young master," their house elf, Sobie, squeaked as he stood in front of the young boy, buttoning up his robes.

"Don't want dis," Rhadé said, pulling at the heavy material.

Rabastan smiled slightly. He knew how his nephew felt because he hated wearing dress robes too. He wanted to wear his regular day robes – they were all black anyway – but Rodolphus was insistent that he don dress robes, so Rabastan dutifully put them on.

Once Sobie had finally finished with Rhadé's robes and started trying to comb his unruly hair, Rabastan opened the door wider and walked into the room. Upon seeing Rabastan, Rhadé pushed the elf away and ran over to him.

"Rab!" he grinned.

"Are you ready to go downstairs?" Rabastan asked.

Rhadé nodded and pulled at his robes. "Don't want dis, Rab," he pouted.

"I know," Rabastan replied. "You can take them off as soon as people leave, okay?"

"Gwanfater dead?" he asked Rabastan, his young brain trying to comprehend what was happening.

"Yup," Rabastan said, nonchalantly as he offered his hand to Rhadé. "C'mon, let's go downstairs."

He led Rhadé downstairs to the ground floor. They were making their way toward the back door when Lucretia walked out of the ballroom with the other house elf, Bexie, trailing behind her.

"Make sure there are enough seats in here for after the ceremony and get some boxes of tissue in case anyone needs them," Lucretia was instructing the elf. "Are you sure all the food is ready?"

"Yes, Madam, everything is ready," squeaked Bexie. "We will bring it up when you all is outside for the service."

"Very well," replied Lucretia.

Rabastan and Rhadé walked toward her and she turned around, smiling at them.

"Oh good, you are both dressed," she said. "Are you ready to go outside?"

Rabastan nodded and started toward the door, but Lucretia gently grabbed his arm.

"Are you doing okay, Rab?" Lucretia asked him sweetly. "This must be hard for you."

This was why Rabastan adored Lucretia. She cared about him and always made him feel special. She was so different from his mother, who couldn't care less if he was around.

"I'm fine," he replied honestly.

Lucretia gave him another warm, loving smile and put her arm around his shoulders. Taking Rhadé's hand in hers, Lucretia steered the boys outside to where the funeral would take place.

In the garden, there were about two hundred chairs set up, all facing a large, black coffin. Rabastan knew that the chairs would soon be filled with grieving people – or, at least, people who were pretending to grieve. He couldn't imagine anyone being truly upset that his father had died. Personally, he couldn't be happier that the terrible man was gone; of course, Rodolphus warned him not to voice that opinion aloud.

A wizard with graying hair was behind a podium, which stood in front of the coffin. He was reading over a piece of parchment, but kept casting furtive glances toward Rabastan's mother and Rodolphus, who were standing by the front row of the chairs, seemingly having a heated discussion.

"Is something wrong?" asked Lucretia, as the three of them reached the front.

"Nothing that concerns you," Celine Lestrange said coldly, giving Lucretia a cool, appraising look.

"Mother doesn't like the flowers, chairs, tomb, officiant or guests," Rodolphus interjected, clearly annoyed.

"I just don't see why we are going to this much trouble. Nobody actually liked the man!" Celine's voice had risen quite loud while she was speaking, and the officiant was now watching them with raised eyebrows.

"_Mother_," Rodolphus said through clenched teeth. "Sit down and keep your damn mouth shut until this is over."

Celine scowled at her eldest son for a moment, before walking over to a chair in the middle and plunking herself down, crossing her arms and looking angrily at the tomb in front of her.

Rodolphus sighed and shook his head slightly before turning to Rabastan. "Okay, Rab, take the seat beside her."

Rabastan obeyed and sat down quietly beside his mother, with Rodolphus sitting on his other side followed by Lucretia and Rhadé. They didn't get to stay seated for long, though, because guests started arriving, coming up to them to shake their hands and offer their condolences.

_"Such a tragedy."_

_"He was a wonderful man."_

_"You must all miss him so much. It's such a loss for everyone who knew him."_

Rabastan just shook the guest's hands and nodded through most of their empty sympathies. He was relieved that his mother was behaving herself and finally took on the part of a sad, grieving widow.

During the service, there were three eulogies read: one by an old school friend who hadn't seen Renier in years, one by a business partner named Mister Flint, and the third by Rodolphus. Rabastan knew his brother well enough to see that he was having trouble reading off the false, albeit expected words: _"great father to his sons"_ … _"devoted husband who loved his wife"_, but he doubted that anyone else would notice Rodolphus struggling with the speech.

After Rodolphus' short eulogy, the officiant said a few more words, then the funeral was over. The officiant walked over and shook Rodolphus' hand and gave Celine a friendly, gentle pat on her hands. Rodolphus motioned for Rabastan to follow him and the family led the guests back into their home.

*.*.*

Upon entering the ballroom, Rodolphus saw that the elves had managed to get the ballroom set up with plenty of chairs and food for the guests. Many people were now getting plates of sandwiches and finger foods and sitting down, talking quietly to one another.

"Would you like to move him into the family mausoleum now?" Rodolphus looked to his right and saw the funeral director standing there, looking at a paper in his hand.

"No," Rodolphus answered. "We should probably wait until after the guests leave. Will you have any trouble getting him to France?"

"There shouldn't be any issues, but I will certainly let you know if anything comes up," the man replied. "Are you sure you don't want to accompany the body there? Say a final goodbye to your father?"

"I'm sure," Rodolphus said. "I've said all I need to say to him."

The funeral director nodded and walked over to one of the tables to fill up a plate.

Rodolphus looked around the room, wanting to make sure that the rest of his family were doing okay. He spotted Lucretia sitting in the corner, holding Rhadé. She was having a conversation with Lila Parkinson, who also had a toddler on her lap. Rabastan was sitting next to Lucretia talking to another young boy whom Rodolphus didn't know. He scanned the room a couple times for his mother, and finally found her inching toward the doorway. He walked over to her and stood in front of her, blocking her exit route.

"You need to stay down here for a bit longer," he told her quietly.

"This is ridiculous, and you know it," Celine shot back at him. "None of these people care that he is gone."

"Ridiculous or not, we have an image to maintain," Rodolphus reminded her, keeping his voice low. "There are people here that want to offer their condolences and your role is to accept them."

She glared at him for a moment longer, then sighed and turned around, walking back into the ballroom and taking a seat on one of the couches.

"How are you doing, Rod?" came a familiar voice from behind him.

"I'm fine," Rodolphus replied, turning around to speak to Evan. "but I will be so glad when this is over."

"Yeah," Evan nodded. "You've had a busy few days."

"Mister Lestrange!"

A tall man came walking up to him. Rodolphus had seen him before but could not remember his name.

"Spencer Macmillan is the name, Mister Lestrange." Mister Macmillan held his hand out and Rodolphus shook it. "But I believe we've met before, haven't we?"

"Uh-," was all Rodolphus was able to get out.

"Listen, son, before your father passed away, he and I were discussing investing in this new business. I don't know suppose he gave you any details on it before he died? "

"Sorry, no, he didn't," Rodolphus replied.

"I didn't think so," Macmillan laughed jovially. Obviously, he wasn't very distraught by Renier's sudden death. "Well, I'm sure you would still be interested in it, since you will be taking over control of your family's finances. I could fill you in on some details, if you like?"

"I hardly think this is the time to discuss it, Mister Macmillan," Rodolphus replied curtly.

"Oh, of course, of course! I meant no offence at all! Tell you what, here's my card." He took a small business card out of his pocket. "My address is on there. Stop by the office next week and we will talk."

Rodolphus accepted the card and the man winked at him and walked away, leaving Rodolphus feeling a bit perplexed.

"Interesting chap," Evan replied, rolling his eyes. Rodolphus shook his head and started to reply but was cut off as another man strode up to him.

"Mister Lestrange, do you have a moment?"

Rodolphus turned away from Evan once again came face to face with an old wizard. He was a short man, who looked slightly crippled and he wore large glasses that looked huge on his tiny face. He held his wrinkly, cramped-looking hand out to Rodolphus.

"Of course," Rodolphus said, shaking the man's hand. "How can I help you, sir?"

"My name is Tiberius Ogden, Mister Lestrange," the old man croaked. "I just wanted to offer my condolences to you."

"Thank you, Mister Ogden," Rodolphus responded as he shook the old man's hand. "Did you know my father well?"

"Yes, I did," the elderly man nodded intently. "Quite well, in fact…"

"Rodolphus!"

Odgen didn't get to finish his sentence because he was cut off by Cadmere Flint, who strolled over to where the two men were talking.

"How are you doing, Rodolphus?" Flint asked. "Crazy that your old man is gone, eh, boy?" Flint was one of Renier's closest associates and Rodolphus had known the man most of his life. Having always found Flint to be dim and boorish, Rodolphus had never really taken well to him, and he had often wondered why his father chose to consort with the other man.

"Yes, its… crazy," Rodolphus replied.

Flint's booming voice seemed to attract others to their area in the room and suddenly Rodolphus was surrounded by dozens of men, all of whom had had previous dealings with Renier. He tried to keep up with all these new names and details in his head, while making appointments to meet with people over the next couple of weeks. His father seemed to be a part of every wizarding organization in Britain and now that he was gone, everyone was waiting for Rodolphus to step in and carry on with what his father had started. The problem was that Rodolphus didn't know where to begin. Was this why his father was always sitting in his study, working long into the night?

After the last person finally left his side, Rodolphus shook his head slightly and looked around for Evan, who had disappeared while the other men were accosting him. He finally found him on the other side of the room talking to a man with pale with skin and black hair. As Rodolphus approached them, the Dark Lord turned to look at him.

"My Lord," Rodolphus greeted quietly, "I did not know you were here."

"I just stopped by for a moment," the Dark Lord replied. "My deepest condolences to you and your family." Rodolphus could see the small smirk on the Dark Lord's lips as he said it. He knew, of course, how Rodolphus had felt about his father.

"So, I take it you are now the head of the family?" he asked.

"Yes," Rodolphus nodded. "And seeing as how my father was seemingly connected with everyone in the country, its going to be a lot to take on."

"So, how was it that he passed, anyway?" the Dark Lord asked. "I never did hear the full story."

"Uh… they said it was a spell backfire." Rodolphus couldn't meet his master's eyes as he said it.

"Spell backfire?" the Dark Lord repeated, sounding amused. "Interesting."

Finally looking up, Rodolphus met his master's gaze and, by now being used to the effect, could feel the other man prodding into his mind. Another smirk showed up on the Dark Lord's face and he looked satisfied about something.

"Well, I really should be going," the Dark Lord said after a moment. "I don't want to draw too much attention to myself. See you both next week."

Rodolphus and Evan bade goodbye to the Dark Lord while Rodolphus mentally added another item to his jam-packed calendar.

After a couple of hours, the guests had finally started to file out of the house and Rodolphus gave the order to have his father's body transferred to the family mausoleum in France. He then paid the funeral director and officiant generous amounts of gold for their services.

With the family finally left alone in the house, Rodolphus went upstairs, seeking some quiet time.

His mother had snuck off to her room about an hour ago and he didn't bother going after her. By now, she was most likely passed out anyway. He stopped by Rabastan's room to check on him but as he peeked in through the door, he saw Rabastan and Rhadé sitting on the floor of his room, playing gobstones. Rhadé giggled as one of the stones squirted the foul-smelling liquid into Rabastan's face. Rabastan wiped it off and laughed as well.

Assuming that Rabastan was doing just fine, Rodolphus continued on to his bedroom. He found Lucretia sitting on the bed, looking through the sympathy cards that had been sent to the family. Rodolphus threw himself down onto the bed with a groan. He rubbed his hands over his face and yawned. It had been such a long day.

"I'm so glad that's all over," he told his wife, rolling over to face her.

She didn't say anything for a minute, still going through all the cards. The one she was reading had flowers and stars all over the cover and said: _"May you find peace in your time of sorrow…"_.

"Who was the man?"

Lucretia sat the card down and looking questioningly at her husband.

"Which one?" he asked, trying to remember the names of everyone he had met today. "The old, crippled-looking man?"

"No," she answered. "The one with dark hair. He seemed to come out of nowhere. He was talking to you and Evan before he disappeared again."

"Oh," Rodolphus said. "That was the Dark Lord. I'm sorry, I should have introduced you."

"No, that's alright," she said, shaking her head. "I thought that's who it was. I was just surprised he was here. What did he want?"

"Just to offer his condolences, I guess. He asked me how Father died, and I told him a spell backfire." Rodolphus paused for a moment before continuing. "He is a very skilled Legilimens."

"Meaning what?"

"He can see into the minds of others and find the truth –"

"No – I know what a Legilimens is," she interrupted. "I just mean, when he looked into _your_ mind, what did he see?"

"The truth, I think," Rodolphus said, slowly. "I'm fairly certain he knows that I killed my father."

Saying it aloud gave Rodolphus chills. While he sincerely believed that Renier got what he deserved and that the whole family was much better off without him, it still felt strange uttering it out loud.

"Will the Dark Lord care?" Lucretia whispered, as she crawled over and cuddled up to him. "That you kill- ... that you are responsible for his death?"

"No, not at all," Rodolphus assured her, as he wrapped his arms around her. "It makes things easier for us on all accounts. I now have full access to my father's contacts and the family vault. Hopefully our plans can proceed more rapidly now."

"Promise me something," Lucretia said, her voice still hushed.

"Anything," he replied easily.

"Promise me that Rabastan and Rhadé will stay out of this," she said, looking into his eyes. "If it comes to a fight, or a war with the Ministry, please promise me that the boys will be safe."

"You have nothing to worry about." Rodolphus smiled and kissed her forehead. "The Dark Lord plans to have a smooth, imperceptible take-over of the Ministry within the next few years. Long before either of them would even be old enough to fight, if it even came to that."

"Rodolphus," she stated, firmly. "I need you to promise me."

Rodolphus leaned in and kissed her deeply. After breaking apart, he looked into her eyes and made her a promise.

"I swear to you that Rhadé and Rabastan will never become involved with the Death Eaters."


	9. The Obligations

**Chapter 9: The Obligations**

_February 1967_

In a small room, inside the Leaky Cauldron pub, the British Wizard Dueling Association members sat around a table, discussing the upcoming annual Dunstable Dueling Championship. The group of men that made up the Association all came from old Wizarding families, who worked hard to keep certain traditions, such as the annual dueling tournament, active in their world.

Rodolphus was one of the men that was sitting around the table. As the others discussed the details of the tournament, he had to force himself to stay awake and try to keep up with the conversation. He had not gotten any sleep last night, due to an attack on a Muggle community that the Dark Lord had spontaneously ordered, and would have much rather gone to bed that morning, instead of arriving in London at the crack of dawn for this meeting.

"Any other business?" Leopold Rowle asked, getting ready to end the meeting. Rodolphus looked around hopefully at his colleagues, praying that no one would speak up. Unfortunately, Duncan Diggory wasn't ready to be finished.

"Yes, I do have something I was to add," Diggory said.

"Oh, bloody hell," Nott's fatigued voice whispered so only Rodolphus would hear him. "Diggory will go on for another hour, at least."

Rodolphus nodded in agreement but didn't have the chance to respond. Diggory stood up and made his speech about how they shouldn't allow non-Ministry-approved vendors to sell items at the tournament. Apparently, last year there were some dangerous items being sold to unsuspecting people. Rodolphus didn't really see the issue with it – the way he saw it, people shouldn't be so foolish and should know what they are buying before they purchase it. From the looks of the others around the room, he wasn't the only one to feel that way.

As Nott predicted, it was an almost an hour later when Diggory finally ended his speech. After Diggory sat back down, Rowle asked again if there once any other business, and, after no one responded, he finally called an end to the meeting. There seemed to be a rush toward the door – obviously Rodolphus wasn't the only one wanting to get out of the small room.

"Got time for a drink?" Nott asked, as they left the room together. Nott glanced into the bar area of the Leaky Cauldron. "It's a pretty busy here, but we could go to The Wyvern down Knockturn."

Rodolphus almost declined since he really had to get home, but after spending the day discussing finger-removing jinxes and horn-growing hexes, he felt he could certainly use a drink.

"If it's quick," Rodolphus agreed. "Avery and his family are coming over for supper tonight, so I have to get home soon."

They entered Diagon Alley through the enchanted brick wall and made their way down to Knockturn Alley. Passing an assortment of notorious shops, Rodolphus and Nott walked up a narrow set of stairs and into the White Wyvern pub.

Unlike the crowded Leaky Cauldron, the White Wyvern only had half a dozen customers inside. At the bar, Rodolphus ordered his usual Firewhisky, while Nott chose a spiced mead, and then they sat down at one of the vacant tables.

"How's your father doing?" Rodolphus asked, after a moment.

"Not very well, I'm afraid," Nott replied with a sigh. "He's still in St. Mungo's, of course. The Healers say he only has a couple weeks to live, at the most."

"I'm sorry," Rodolphus said, sincerely. He knew that Nott was very close with his father.

"Mother and I have been into visit him a few times," Nott continued. "Naturally, we can't get too close. You know how contagious Dragon Pox can be."

Rodolphus nodded as he lit a cigarette with his wand. He offered the pack to Nott, who accepted it and took a cigarette out of the package and lit it.

"Anyway, he asked me to take him in some documents last week," Nott said, as he blew out a puff of smoke and slid the cigarettes back to Rodolphus. "Everything has been signed over to me – house, gold, assets, positions on boring councils..."

"So, does that mean that you will be joining me for all the Dueling Association meetings now?" Rodolphus asked with a small grin. Nott had attended the previous two meetings, taking over his father's position after the man was diagnosed with his illness.

"That and many others," Nott replied. "I had no idea my father was involved in so many different businesses and committees until I was forced to attend all these meetings."

"I know the feeling," Rodolphus said dryly. "I haven't had a day at home this week. You would think these organizations would want to bring in someone new, rather than just hand the position down to the previous member's son."

"Well, I do know a lot of them like to keep the old Pure-blood families involved," Nott said.

"True enough," Rodolphus assented. "And I supposed it would look bad if we rejected their offers to join?"

"I would think so," Nott said, with a little laugh. "It's all about keeping up appearances, right?"

They sat in silence for a moment, then Nott spoke again.

"So, speaking of parents, how is your mother doing? Has she returned from her trip yet?"

"No, and I doubt she ever will," Rodolphus replied, indifferently. Celine Lestrange left for France to visit her sister shortly after Renier's funeral. She planned to stay for a month, but she had yet to return. "She sent a note around Christmas, saying not to expect her, but that's all I've heard from her since she left."

"What about your brother, then?" Nott asked curiously. "If your mother stays in France, will you send him to live with her?"

Rodolphus shook his head. "No, he will remain here with Lucretia and me. It's better that way anyway."

Nott nodded slightly, as a confused look crossed his face. Since Nott had very good relationships with both his parents, Rodolphus knew that he had never been able to fully understand the different dynamics of the Lestrange family.

Rodolphus finished his cigarette and drained the last of his Firewhisky, then reached for his cloak.

"You're leaving already?" Nott asked, looking slightly dismayed as Rodolphus stood up.

"Yes, I need to get home," Rodolphus said apologetically.

He felt bad for leaving when it was obvious that Nott was yearning for someone to talk to about his father and new family responsibilities. Rodolphus understood the stress that his friend was under all too well – it was similar to the situation Rodolphus himself was in almost a year ago. The only difference was that Nott actually cared for his father and the older Nott's illness and impending death were clearly upsetting him.

"Want to come?" Rodolphus asked him, as he fastened his cloak. "You're more than welcome to join us."

Nott shook his head. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

"It's only Avery," Rodolphus said dismissively. "Nothing formal."

"But it's a family thing," Nott replied, almost sounding bitter. "I would be out of place."

Rodolphus watched Nott signal the bartender to bring him another drink.

"Alright," Rodolphus said, with a shrug. "I will see you later."

He left the pub, still feeling regretful about leaving Nott behind, but he had other obligations to attend to and didn't have time to waste.

Disapparating out of London, Rodolphus traveled back to his country estate. He rushed up the drive and into the house. Once he entered his bedroom, he found Lucretia at her vanity, finishing up her makeup.

"You're cutting it close," Lucretia said, as she turned away from the mirror to face him. "The Avery's should be here any moment."

"I know," he said. "The meeting ran late."

He leaned down and kissed her.

"Must have been quite the meeting," she said with a smirk, as he pulled back from her. "Do they always serve whisky there?"

"I went for a quick drink with Nott afterwards," Rodolphus admitted. "He's been a bit down lately with his father being so ill."

She nodded but was still smiling knowingly at him.

"And the meeting _did_ run late, just so you know," he said defensively, as he pulled off his tie.

"Sure," she said, with a little laugh. "I'm going to take the boys downstairs. I will meet you in the sitting room?"

Rodolphus nodded to her, then quickly changed into a different set of robes and washed up in the bathroom.

He made his down to the next level, reaching the bottom of the stairs just as Sobie was leading Prescott Avery and his family into the sitting room.

Shortly after leaving Hogwarts, Avery had married Olivia Abbott, a girl that had been in the same year as him. They now had three children: a four-year-old boy, a three-year-old girl and a newborn girl.

Rodolphus entered the sitting room and glanced around. Avery and his wife, who was holding a tiny baby, were just sitting down on one of the couches, while their two oldest children plunked themselves down on the floor. Lucretia was sitting on the other couch, while Rabastan sat in the armchair and Rhadé squeezed in next to him, rather than sitting down with the other children.

"I was wondering if you were home," Avery commented, as Rodolphus walked further into the room. "Are you just getting in?"

"A few minutes ago," Rodolphus replied, as he sat down next to his wife. "I spent all day in a meeting with the Dueling Association. Had to wait for Duncan Diggory to shut up so we could leave."

"Diggory?" Avery asked with a laugh. "Well, then I'm surprised your home this early."

"Rodolphus is never home anymore," Lucretia told them, rolling of her eyes. "We barely recognize him, right Rab?"

"Yeah," Rabastan agreed. "He's so busy that he even has meetings at night now!"

Rodolphus and Lucretia exchanged a quick glance. Rabastan knew nothing about the Death Eaters and Rodolphus planned to keep it that way as long as he could.

Obviously wanting to change the subject, Lucretia gestured toward the newborn in Olivia's arms.

"May I?" she asked

"Of course!" Olivia seemed pleased to relieve herself of the bundle.

Lucretia's eyes lit up as she took the small baby in her arms.

"She's so beautiful," she whispered.

"You must be ready for another one by now?" Avery asked. "Rhadé is almost three, isn't he?"

Lucretia nodded but didn't respond. Rodolphus noticed the look of sadness in her eyes. He knew how much she wanted another child – especially a girl – but the risks were just too high to even consider it.

"You must be busy with three little ones," Rodolphus commented, as he looked down at the older Avery children playing on the floor with a toy dragon that the boy must have brought with him.

"It's like living in a never-ending circus," Olivia replied wryly. "Thankfully the elf does all the housework and cooking. We also have hired an instructor for Morris to start his schooling, so that keeps him occupied for most of the day."

"So, what do _you_ do all day, then?" Avery asked his wife.

Olivia glared at him and opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Sobie, who had just entered the room.

"Dinner is ready, Master," Sobie addressed Rodolphus with a low bow.

Avery jumped up quickly, obviously hoping his wife would forget about his comment, and walked toward the dining room.

"Oh, she's asleep," Lucretia said, looking down at the small baby. "Would you like me to put her down somewhere?"

Olivia waved her wand and bassinet appeared out of thin air.

"Just put her in there," she said. "We will be able to hear if she cries."

As the two families went into the dining room, Rodolphus noticed that Lucretia kept glancing back at the sleeping baby. She seemed to have a harder time leaving the child alone than the mother did.

"So, I heard some interesting news yesterday," Avery said conversationally, after they were seated at the table and the elves were walking around serving everyone. "Old Dippet informed us that he is retiring at the end of the school year."

"Who's Old Dippet?" Lucretia asked, curiously.

"The Headmaster at Hogwarts," Rodolphus informed her.

"He's been there forever!" Olivia added. "Really, it's about time he retired."

"So, who is taking over his position?" Rodolphus asked Avery, who was one of the school governors, and therefore would be involved in choosing the next Headmaster at the school.

"Who do you think?" Avery responded, his voice full of resentment. "Albus Dumbledore, of course."

"I thought the governors chose the appointment?" Rodolphus questioned. "Can't you vote against it?"

"Certainly," Avery replied. "But in this case, I'm outnumbered. It doesn't help that Dippet is pushing for him to get the job."

"Great," Rodolphus said sarcastically.

"Is Dumbledore the Mudblood-lover you've mentioned before?" Lucretia asked. Having not attended Hogwarts, she always had a hard time keeping up with conversations about their old school days.

"Yes, and he's a nightmare," Olivia answered her. "He's especially bad if you're in Slytherin."

"You start next year, don't you, Rabastan?" Avery asked.

"Yes, sir," Rabastan replied. "And in a couple weeks…"

He was interrupted by Avery's daughter, whose plate fell to the floor causing food and china to fly everywhere. Avery, who was evidently used to situations like this by now, barely glanced over as he pulled out his wand and wordlessly cleaned the mess up, before turning back to Rabastan.

"In a couple weeks, I turn eleven and I can get my wand!" Rabastan finished, as Bexie sat a new plate of food down in front of the young girl.

"Shame you won't be able to use it though," Rodolphus said smugly.

"I can use it as long as there is someone around!" Rabastan shot back indignantly. "And you said that the Ministry doesn't care about underage magic until after your first year of school!"

"Calm down, Rab," Rodolphus said with a laugh. "I was only joking."

Another crash came, as Avery's daughter dropped her second plate of food on the floor.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

Avery just sighed and pulled out his wand again.

*.*.*

After supper, Rodolphus ordered Bexie to take the children into the other room to play, while the adults sat around for after-dinner drinks. Rabastan wasn't pleased at being forced to stay with the group of young kids, but Rodolphus insisted he go with them and promised to make it up to him later.

Sobie served wine to Rodolphus, Lucretia and the Avery's, while the four of them sat around discussing everything from the children to Ministry politics.

Just as he was beginning to feel relaxed, enjoying being at home with his family and close friends, Rodolphus felt his left arm burn. He glanced over at Avery and could tell from the look in his eyes that he had felt his burn too.

"We have to go," Rodolphus said as he jumped up.

"Now?" Olivia asked, looking crossly at her husband. "Can we at least take the kids home first?"

"No time," Avery said, apologetically.

Rodolphus left the room quickly, with Avery right behind him. They went out the gateway until they reached the Apparation point. Almost in sync, they waved their wands and were suddenly in their Death Eater attire. Then, they turned on the spot and vanished.

When they arrived at the Dark Lord's side, in a large, unfamiliar field, Rodolphus realized that a full Death Eater meeting had been called. Usually full meetings were planned in advance, and the Dark Lord only spontaneously summoned a few that he needed for a certain task. But tonight, over twenty masked men stood in the field, forming a circle around their master and another masked death eater, who was kneeling beside the Dark Lord. This Death Eater was visibly trembling.

"Tonight, you will all be provided an educational lesson," the Dark Lord said, after the remaining Death Eaters arrived. "This will be a demonstration of what happens to traitors."

The Dark Lord waved his wand and the Death Eater in the middle was unmasked, but Rodolphus still didn't recognize him.

"For those who are not familiar with my friend here, this is Randall Payne." Though the Dark Lord's voice had a tone of amusement to it, Rodolphus could also hear the anger behind his words. "Randall only joined us a few weeks ago and, earlier tonight, while he was out with some friends, he thought it would be fun to brag about what he's been doing. He has let slip some very important, confidential information. He even went as far as telling his friends a few of the names of the men he was working with."

Several of the Death Eaters standing around hissed slightly, while others murmured to each other, obviously worried that their secrets might be leaked.

"Not to worry," the Dark Lord said calmly. "Luckily, one of my trustworthy Death Eaters was in the same pub and overheard Randall talking. This Death Eater successfully modified the memories of Randall's friends, so they are now none the wiser."

Rodolphus saw the Dark Lord give a nod to a Death Eater across from him, that he knew was Nott.

"I've also used Legilimency on him," the Dark Lord continued, motioning toward Randall. "His two friends are the only ones that he revealed his secret to. So, no harm done."

Payne then looked up beseechingly at the Dark Lord, obviously hoping he was going to be pardoned.

"We were very lucky tonight," the Dark Lord continued. "Had this fool not been overhead in that pub, his story could have quickly spread. Therefore, I think it's very important for the rest of you to understand what happens when you can no longer be trusted."

"I'm sorry!" Payne suddenly wailed in despair, as he crawled toward the Dark Lord. "I'm sorry, my Lord! It won't happen again. I swear it won't!"

He had tears streaming down his cheeks as he trembled at the Dark Lord's feet.

"Do you know how we deal with traitors, Randall Payne?"

"Please don't kill me," Payne begged. He turned his attention to the surrounding Death Eaters. "My brothers, please forgive me. I truly meant no harm!"

"Kill you?" The Dark Lord laughed humorlessly. "That would be far too kind, Randall."

Rodolphus laughed along with the others in the circle. This was the first traitor that they had to deal with, but they knew this day would come. They had already discussed what they would do with such people. Rodolphus was just glad that it wasn't someone that he knew.

"Who wants to be first?" the Dark Lord asked as he looked at all their masked faces. He then signaled to one of the masked Death Eaters, who stepped forward with his wand out.

"_Crucio!_" Rodolphus recognized the voice as Dolohov's.

Over the course of three hours, they each took turns inflicting the curse of their choice on their victim. By the end of the torture session, he was barely conscious.

"Any last words?" the Dark Lord asked. Payne's eyes were slightly glazed over, and he looked like he didn't even understand the question. "I didn't think so… _Avada Kedavra!"_

Green light shot out of the Dark Lord's wand and the traitor was gone.

*.*.*

It was almost seven in the morning when Rodolphus had finally arrived home. He was so looking forward to finally going to bed and getting some rest.

After disposing of the traitor, the Dark Lord dismissed the gathering, but held his _core_ Death Eaters back for a meeting. Rodolphus, together with Evan, Dolohov, Avery, Wilkes and Nott, sat with the Dark Lord making plans for an upcoming raid.

After that, Evan convinced them all to return to his flat for a few drinks. Rodolphus knew he should have refused and went home, but all the others were going and, since it was already after two in the morning, his family would all have been sleeping anyway. It had been awhile since the group of them had been together, outside of Death Eater business, and Rodolphus enjoyed catching up with them.

Just as the sun was beginning to come up, he had flooed back to his place from Evan's, appearing in his study.

Leaving his office, he started down the hall toward the staircase, hoping that Lucretia was still in bed. When he reached the staircase, however, he met Rabastan coming down from his room. Rodolphus was surprised to see his brother up so early – he usually slept in on weekends.

"Oh good, you're up!" Rabastan said eagerly as he reached the landing. "What do you want to do?"

"Do?" Rodolphus asked, blankly.

"You said you were going to spend the day with me," Rabastan reminded him. "So, what do you want to do? Go to London? Or we can just stay home, but maybe go flying?"

Rodolphus suddenly remembered that he had promised his brother that he would clear his calendar for him, and the two of them would spend the day together. When he had originally planned this, however, he hadn't anticipated on being completely exhausted and in serious need of sleep.

"Oh…right." Rodolphus said. "Look Rab, I know I said we would do something but…"

"You're too busy?" Rabastan asked, looking crestfallen.

Rodolphus looked at his brother sympathetically. Lately, Rodolphus was always busy with work or Death Eater duties and, while Lucretia was amazing to him, he knew that Rabastan longed to spend some time with his brother. Rodolphus wanted to spend time with Rabastan too, but he felt like the list of things that he had to do was never-ending. He was having a hard time prioritizing everything that needed to be done and, unfortunately, time spent with his family tended to come in at the bottom of the list.

"No, of course not, Rab," Rodolphus said, deciding that he wouldn't let his fatigue get in the way of his brother's happiness. It was his own fault that he didn't go home earlier, anyway. "I just need a shower and breakfast first, okay?"

"Okay!" Rabastan said, breaking into a grin again. "I will be in the dining room."

As Rabastan continued down the hall, Rodolphus forced himself up the stairs to his room to have a shower, vaguely wondering how long one could survive with no sleep.


	10. The Unwelcome News

**Chapter 10: The Unwelcome News**

_September 1967_

Rabastan had to admit that his father dying was probably the best thing that ever happened to him, and his mother leaving would come in second. With his parents gone, Rabastan was left in Rodolphus' care, meaning that for the past year and a half, his life had seemed absolutely perfect.

The only downside to this new arrangement was how busy Rodolphus became when he took over as head of the family. Rabastan knew that Rodolphus tried to make time for him when he could, and when he couldn't, his brother would indulge him with gifts instead. Whether it be a box of sweets from Honeydukes or Quidditch tickets, Rodolphus made sure Rabastan had everything he needed to be happy.

However, Rabastan didn't need Rodolphus to buy him anything, because when he didn't have his brother to spend time with, he had Lucretia. Sweet, loving Lucretia who doted on him as much as Rodolphus did, but in a different way. Instead of spending money on him, she spent time with him. She was constantly doing things with both Rabastan and Rhadé. For the first time in his life, Rabastan understood what it was like to have a loving family.

Everything was about to change, though, because Rabastan was heading off to Hogwarts to start his magical education. Despite the fact that he had been looking forward to going to Hogwarts, he felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of leaving his family behind.

"Ready to get on the train, Rab?"

Rabastan started slightly as he was brought out of his reverie. He tore his eyes away from the large steam engine and looked over at Rodolphus, who was watching him closely.

"Yes, of course," he replied, as he put on a brave smile. He didn't want Rodolphus to know he was feeling upset about leaving.

Lucretia reached out and pulled him into a big hug. "You are going to have a great time there," she assured him. "Make sure you write at least once a week; I want to know how you are doing."

"I will," he promised, as he pulled back from her. "It's definitely going to be strange not seeing you all every day."

He tried to sound casual, as though this thought had just crossed his mind for the first time. Lucretia, however, gave him a knowing smile.

"It will fly by for you, I promise," Lucretia said, as she gave him another hug. "Before you know it, you will be back home for Christmas. I will write to you all the time and it will be like you are still here with us."

Rabastan smiled warmly at Lucretia. She always knew how to make him feel better.

"Bye, Rab," said Rhadé sullenly.

"Bye, Rhadé," Rabastan said. "I will see you at Christmas, okay?"

Rhadé nodded but didn't say anything else. He looked quite distraught about Rabastan's leaving and Rabastan was reminded of himself years ago, when Rodolphus would go to school and leave him behind.

"Well, have a good term, Rab," Rodolphus said, patting him reassuringly on the back. "If you need anything while you are there, just send me an owl, alright?"

Rabastan nodded and said goodbye to his brother. He grabbed his trunk and began to walk toward the train. Before he made it, another troubling thought entered his mind. He spun around and looked at Rodolphus again.

"Will you be upset if I'm not in Slytherin?" Rabastan blurted out. "What if I get put in another house?"

Rodolphus looked surprised by Rabastan's outburst, but he then smiled slightly. He walked closer to him and whispered as he answered.

"No, it doesn't matter to me which house you are in. Just remember that the other houses are more lenient with who they let in. Be cautious of who you are associating with and you will be fine."

Rabastan knew that Rodolphus was speaking of Mudbloods. He had never met a Mudblood before, but he certainly didn't fancy being around them all the time. He often wondered if they were as dirty as everyone said they were.

"Right," Rabastan said to his brother, still not feeling completely reassured.

He said goodbye again and made his way onto the train. Walking down the corridor, he looked around for an empty compartment, or at least one that had someone he knew sitting in it. Around the middle of the train, he was relieved to find Rhett Selwyn sitting with a couple other boys. Rabastan had met Selwyn a couple years ago at one of the Pure-blood Society events and the two of them always got on well.

He opened the door and poked his head in. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"No, not at all," Selwyn replied eagerly. He jumped up from his seat and helped Rabastan get his trunk into the luggage rack. "How have you been, Lestrange?"

"Very well," Rabastan replied, as he took the seat next to Selwyn. "Yourself?"

"Pretty good," Selwyn said. He glanced between Rabastan and his companions. "Do you all each other?"

"Rabastan Lestrange," Rabastan introduced himself, as he held his hand out.

The first boy, who had dark blond hair and a haughty expression on his face, shook Rabastan's hand.

"Corban Yaxley," he replied, in an uninterested voice. "I think we met in the summer, didn't we?"

"Oh right," Rabastan said, suddenly remembering him. "At the Malfoy's Summer Soiree."

The other boy reached over to shake Rabastan's hand, looking at him with a lot more interest than Yaxley.

"Dimitri Jugson," he said enthusiastically. "I don't think we've met but heard of you."

"You have?" Rabastan asked, feeling perplexed.

"Well, not _you_ particularly," Jugson explained. "But I've heard loads about your family."

Rabastan waited for Jugson to elaborate, but the other boy didn't say anything else. He just looked at Rabastan with fascination. Rabastan wasn't sure what else to say. He knew that the Lestrange family was well-known throughout Britain, but since most of the other families they associated with were also held in high regard, he had never really given it much thought. He now began to realize that there would probably be plenty of people at Hogwarts who knew of him, even if he didn't have a clue who they were.

"So, are you all starting this year?" Rabastan asked.

"I am," Selwyn said.

"This is our second year," Yaxley drawled, gesturing to himself and Jugson.

"Do you think you will be in Slytherin?" Jugson asked them.

"Probably," Rabastan nodded. "My brother and father were both Slytherins."

"I hope I am," Selwyn replied. "But I'm fine with anything other Hufflepuff. I'd probably die from embarrassment if they tried to put me in there!"

The others laughed and agreed with him.

As the train headed north, the four boys talked to each other as though they had all been long-time friends. By the time the lunch trolley came, Rabastan was so caught up in talking with his new friends, that he forgot how nervous he felt.

*.*.*

Rodolphus, Lucretia and Rhadé had arrived home around lunch time and sat down in the family dining room to eat.

"Do you think Rabastan will be okay?" Lucretia asked Rodolphus apprehensively. "He looked so nervous getting onto the train."

"He'll be fine," Rodolphus replied, as Sobie sat bowls of soup down in front of them. "He will feel better once he gets there and settled in."

"I just worry about him," Lucretia said. "He's been through so many changes with your father dying, then your mother leaving..."

"He's doing great," Rodolphus insisted. "He's the happiest I've ever seen him, and I know that I owe a lot of that to you." He smiled affectionately at her. "You're more of a mother to him than our own ever was."

"I guess I just have maternal instincts," Lucretia said, watching him closely. "Speaking of which, I should probably tell you that I'm pregnant."

The smile left Rodolphus' face as his spoon clattered down into his soup bowl.

"You're _what_?"

"Pregnant," she replied cheerfully, taking a sip of her own soup.

"You can't be pregnant," he said, staring at her. "Remember what that Healer said? I thought we were taking measures to prevent you from ever getting pregnant again."

"I stopped taking the potions," she said, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

Rodolphus suddenly felt livid. How could she do this? She knew the dangers of becoming pregnant again.

"Are you insane?" he asked her angrily. "Do you know what you have done?"

Lucretia glared at him, the happiness that had been on her face a moment ago was gone.

"Oh, how silly of me," Lucretia said in an unfamiliar cold voice. "Here I thought you would be happy that we are adding to our family. Most men are happy when another potential heir is on the way."

"I've told you, I don't care about having more heirs," he said firmly. "You could die, Lucretia!"

"I won't _die_, Rodolphus," she said as she rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be so overdramatic."

"Get rid of it."

He hadn't meant to say it so harshly but, as usual, his temper was getting the better of him. Lucretia's eyes widened for a moment, before they narrowed into something more hostile looking. She put a protective arm over her stomach.

"What did you just say to me?" she said, sounding venomous.

"I said get rid of it." As much as he hated seeing his wife angry at him, Rodolphus didn't back down. "I will not risk your life for another child."

"_You_ don't get to make that decision. Do you think I haven't given the risks any thought?" Her voice was rising. He couldn't remember ever seeing her this angry. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

Rodolphus tried to protest but she ignored him and carried on.

"I am already three months along, Rodolphus! As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I set up a meeting with Healer Williams and he is arranging to have me meet with team of experienced Healers that will monitor me and make sure everything is okay. I told him to spare no expense in ensuring the health and safety of both myself and this child." She stood up from the table, her arm still held protectively over her stomach. "Now, if you will excuse me, I've lost my appetite."

Rodolphus watched as his wife strode furiously from the room. He considered following her but thought better of it. He didn't want to say anything to upset her more.

Looking back down at his own lunch, he realized that he was no longer hungry either. Shaking with anger, Rodolphus got up from the table and stormed out of the room, leaving his young son to finish his lunch alone.

*.*.*

Before Rabastan knew it, the sky had grown dark and the train was slowing down. Once they were stopped, the four boys left the train together. Rabastan looked in amazement at the hundreds of horseless carriages that students were heading for.

"First years have travel to the school by boat, crossing the Great Lake," Yaxley informed him, pointing toward a large man a few feet away. "We older students get to go up in the carriages."

As Yaxley and Jugson walked toward the carriages, Rabastan and Selwyn made their way toward the large man who was calling the first-year students over.

"Hullo!" the man said cheerfully to the two boys. "My name is Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts and I will be taking you lot across the lake."

The boys just nodded and didn't say anything to Hagrid. Rabastan wasn't sure what to think of him. He had never seen such a large person before.

As Hagrid turned to greet more students making their way over to him, Selwyn leaned over and whispered in Rabastan's ear.

"What happened to him, anyway? Did he swallow a Swelling Solution or something?"

"I was thinking maybe he was part-troll," Rabastan muttered scornfully, as Selwyn burst out laughing.

After all the first years had gathered around, Hagrid led them down a steep path, where they got their first view of Hogwarts. Rabastan knew the castle was large, but he was amazed at the sheer size of the school. He vaguely wondered how many times he would end up getting lost in there.

They continued down the hill until they came to a vast lake and a fleet of row boats.

"Okay everyone, into the boats!" Hagrid said, as he climbed into a boat.

Rabastan and Selwyn climbed into a boat together and were followed by another boy and a girl. At Hagrid's command, the boats began moving on their own across the enormous lake. As they came closer to the school, Rabastan counted at least ten towers, jutting out, all over the castle. Hundreds of lights were lit up and, despite its dark brick exterior, the place looked extremely warm and welcoming.

Once they reached the shore, they got out of the boats and climbed a long set of stairs, coming to stand on the grass beside the large castle. Hagrid directed them to go up more stairs toward a set of oak doors, in front of which stood a stern-looking woman.

"Good evening and welcome to Hogwarts," the witch said as they approached her. She opened the large doors and led the students inside. "My name is Professor McGonagall, and in a moment, I will be taking you into the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your houses."

Rabastan heard a lot of people talking and laughing on the other side of a set of doors to his right and assumed that must be where the Great Hall was.

"There are four houses here at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," McGonagall continued. "You will take you classes with other first-years in your house and your common room will be something like your home – it is where you will sleep and spend your free time. Each house has six prefects, who are older students that will help you to settle in."

"How do they sort us?" Selwyn whispered. "Do you know, Lestrange?"

Rabastan nodded. Rodolphus had told him all about the ancient hat that sorts the students into their houses. He didn't have a chance to explain it to Selwyn, though, because McGonagall had beckoned them forward into the Great Hall.

As they walked between the tables where all the other students were seated, Rabastan heard some of the students shout out words of encouragement to the first-years, while others wolf-whistled and called out gibes.

The new students lined up facing the rest of the students, with the table full of teachers behind them. McGonagall placed a stool and an old, patched hat sat in front of them. Rabastan watched as the Sorting Hat opened at the brim and began to sing. After the Hat finished its song, each student was called forward to be sorted.

When about half of the students were placed in their houses, it was Rabastan's turn. Sitting down on the stool, Rabastan let McGonagall place the hat on his head. It fell down over his eyes and all he could see was the inside of the hat.

"Well, now, who do we have here?" said a voice inside his head. "Lestrange… Lestrange… yes, I've had a few of you enter this school during my time here. You're nervous, aren't you? There's no need to be. I am here to make the best choice for you."

_"Slytherin, please choose Slytherin,"_ Rabastan thought desperately.

"Slytherin, eh? Just like your brother and father. I _could_ put you there. A lot of the old pure-blood families end up in Slytherin, and I must say, your father and brother fit in very nicely there. But I sense something different in you. You are a benevolent boy… certainly more so than other members of your family. There is loyalty, too! Strong loyalty to your family and friends. Excellent qualities for a Hufflepuff."

Rabastan suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't be in Hufflepuff! Everyone he knew made fun of the Hufflepuff house.

_"No! Not Hufflepuff, please! I _need_ to be in Slytherin."_

"Are you sure?" the Hat mused. "You could do okay in Slytherin – your loyalty will come in handy there, as well. But, I think you would fit in better with the Hufflepuffs…"

_"Please don't put me there,"_ Rabastan silently pleaded.

He felt horrified by the thought of going into Hufflepuff. He was beginning to wonder if Rodolphus would let him leave school. Maybe he could learn at home or go abroad. The Sorting Hat went silent and, for a moment, Rabastan began to wonder if he broke it.

Then the Hat shouted out its decision for everyone in the Great Hall to hear.

_"SLYTHERIN!"_

Rabastan breathed a sigh of relief as the Sorting Hat was removed from his head. He grinned as he made his way over to the Slytherin table and sat down with Jugson and Yaxley. Lucius Malfoy, who was a couple years older than him, reached his hand down the table to greet him and welcome him to the "family".

"What took so long?" Yaxley asked Rabastan. "The Hat couldn't decide where to put you?"

"It was just going over all of the options," Rabastan lied. "It said I definitely belong in Slytherin, though."

Yaxley looked skeptical but didn't ask anything else. They watched quietly as the sorting continued, and then Rabastan joined in with the round of applause when Selwyn came to sit down next to him.

The sorting was followed by a grand feast, which had every kind of food imaginable. Once they were all stuffed, the Headmaster stood up and smied at everyone in the room.

Rabastan glared at Albus Dumbledore as the man gave his welcoming speech. He knew that Rodolphus despised Dumbledore, and if his brother despised someone, it only made sense that Rabastan should hate them too.

"Off to bed, now," Dumbledore said, as he concluded his speech.

Suddenly the Great Hall was full of many people trying to leave at once. Rabastan and Selwyn followed Yaxley and Jugson out of the hall and down a set of stone steps. Rabastan held back a shiver at the chilly air under the school. No one had told him that the dormitories were in the dungeons.

The walked along the passageways, making various turns. Rabastan felt like he was lost in a maze. Finally, Yaxley, who was in the lead, came to a stop.

"So, this is it," he said, turning to look at Rabastan and Selwyn.

Rabastan wondered if this was some kind of joke. They were in an empty corridor with a blank streatch of stone wall beside them. He glanced at Selwyn questioningly, but Selwyn seemed just as confused as he was.

"I never got the password, did you?" Yaxley asked Jugson.

Jugson shook his head. "Guess we have to wait."

After a moment they heard footsteps coming and a group of older students appeared in the passageway.

"Do you have the password?" Yaxley asked them.

One of the girls nodded. "It's _basilisk_."

As soon as she said the word, an opening appeared in the stone wall.

Rabastan's jaw dropped as he stepped into the common room. There was a beautiful fireplace with a roaring fire, green lanterns hanging from the ceiling and multiple ornate chairs and desks set up for students to sit at. Throughout the room there were pictures, carvings and other adornments depicting the house symbol of the snake. Various tapestries of famous former Slytherins hung from the walls, including a large one of Salazar Slytherin.

He looked out the window and realized that he was looking into water.

"That's the Great Lake," Jugson said unnecessarily as he walked over to look out the window with Rabastan. "Sometimes you see some pretty cool things float by. I saw the giant squid a few times last year."

They walked away from the window and proceeded down a short hallway off the common room that led to the dormitories. The second door on Rabastan's right had a small plaque that read _First Years_. He opened the door and went inside with Selwyn. There were four immaculately wood-carved beds set up in the room, two of which were already occupied.

After some quick introductions with the other first-year boys, Rabastan claimed one of the remaining beds. He changed into his pyjamas and laid down, staring out the nearby window into the lake. A moment later his eyes closed and he was fast asleep.


	11. The Devastation

**Chapter 11: The ****Devastation**

_December 1967_

_"Rodolphus!" _Lucretia's screams brought Rodolphus abruptly out of his sleep. _"Rodolphus, wake up!"_

"What is it?" Rodolphus asked drowsily. "What's wrong?"

He grabbed his wand and waved it, lighting up the candles in the chandelier above their bed. Looking over to where Lucretia should have been laying, he gasped in horror. The blankets were soaked with bright red blood, a trail of which was going into the bathroom, where he heard his wife sobbing loudly.

_"Rodolphus!"_

Clambering out of the bed as fast he could, he ran across the room to their bathroom. Lucretia was kneeling on the floor, her arm around her stomach. Blood covered her hands and clothing. She looked up at him through tear-filled eyes.

"My baby," she sobbed. "Rodolphus, do something! _Please!_"

Rodolphus did the first thing he could think of. He ran from the room and shouted out for their live-in nanny.

"Ms. Carlisle!" he yelled, banging on her door. "Ms. Carlisle, please come quick."

The door flew open and Ms. Carlisle stood there in her dressing gown, holding a lantern out in front of her. Ms. Carlisle was ninety-six years old and, as far as Rodolphus was concerned, a godsend to their family. He had hired her on after Lucretia had informed him that she was pregnant again. His hope was that Ms. Carlisle would keep an eye on Rhadé's day-to-day needs, leaving Lucretia to get the rest she required. However, Ms. Carlisle had done more than that: for the past three months, not only did she help keep Rhadé entertained, she also became a dear friend to Lucretia and tended to her needs as well.

"What is it?" she asked, a worried expression crossed her face.

"Lucretia!" he gasped. "Lucretia is in our bathroom. There is blood everywhere."

He looked at her helplessly, but she just gave a curt nod and started off quickly toward their bedroom. Rodolphus continued speaking, following the older woman into his bedroom.

"We have to get her to St. Mungo's right away."

In the bathroom, Lucretia was still laying on the floor but was no longer screaming. Instead, she was just sobbing weakly. Rodolphus reached down to pick her up. She clung to him, burying her face into his shoulder.

"It might be best that we leave her here, Mister Lestrange, until we can have someone check her over," Ms. Carlisle said. "Stay with her and don't move her too much. I will be right back with a Healer."

Before Rodolphus could answer, Ms. Carlisle had gone from the room. After what seemed like an eternity to Rodolphus, she returned with Healer Williams. The Healer knelt down, feeling Lucretia's stomach and checking her over. A moment later, three more Healers entered their bedroom, led by Sobie.

Rodolphus stood back, feeling helpless as he watched them look over his wife. The Healers were muttering to one another but Rodolphus wasn't able to process what they were saying. Finally, Healer Williams looked up at him.

"Mister Lestrange, we are going to have to transport her to St. Mungo's. It could be dangerous, given her condition, but we can treat her much easily there."

"Just do whatever you need to," Rodolphus said, his voice almost a whisper.

He felt terrified. Seeing his wife, laying in a pool of blood, now seemingly unconscious, was the worst sight he had ever seen. He watched as the Healers magicked Lucretia a stretcher and carefully took her from the room.

"You can meet us at St. Mungo's, Mister Lestrange," Healer Williams said on his way out of the room.

"What's wrong with Mommy?" a quiet voice asked.

Rodolphus jumped and spun around. Rhadé was standing behind him, next to Ms. Carlisle. He hadn't even noticed his son come in the room.

Ms. Carlisle shushed the boy and addressed Rodolphus.

"Go be with your wife," she urged. "I will be here with Rhadé."

He nodded at her, no longer able to speak. She gave him a reassuring pat on the arm and led Rhadé from the room. Once out the door, Rodolphus could hear his son asking what was going on again.

Sitting on the bed for a moment, Rodolphus took a couple deep breaths and tried to get his brain working again. After his head started clear a bit, he changed out of his dressing gown into a set of plain black robes. He summoned Sobie to come in and clean up the room and then took off to the hospital.

*.*.*

The St. Mungo's Hospital reception area was fairly quiet, given the time of night, although there were a few urgent care people sitting the chairs. One man, looking quite tired, had smoke coming out of his mouth every time he coughed. An elderly woman was sporting a deep cut on her hand that had green pus pouring out of it. There was also a family, who looked very distraught, except for the youngest daughter, who was skipping happily around the room with a long unicorn horn protruding from her forehead.

Unsure where exactly they would have taken Lucretia, he rang the bell on the reception desk. After waiting a moment, a man walked out from a back room, looking like he just woke up. Rodolphus had never been more grateful to see his best friend.

"Welcome to St. Mungo's," yawned Evan, "what can I help you – _Oh!_" He had just realized who was standing in front of him. "Rod, what's wrong?"

"Lucretia," Rodolphus answered weakly. "There was a lot of blood… they brought her in, but I don't know where she is."

"I don't see her on here," Evan said. He looked wide awake now, as his eyes scanned through a list. "But they might not have registered her yet. She's probably on the second floor. Come with me, I will take you up."

"Don't you need to stay here?" Rodolphus asked, glancing around the waiting room.

"Nah, they're fine," Evan said, already heading for the staircase, with Rodolphus quickly following him. On the second floor, they rounded a corner and Rodolphus saw Healer Williams coming toward them.

"Oh, there you are, Mister Lestrange! I was just about to send someone down to the reception area to see if you arrived." He turned back around and started walking in the opposite direction, calling over his shoulder. "Follow me please."

Rodolphus followed, filled with dread. He wondered how Lucretia was doing. Was she okay? Was the baby okay? He knew Lucretia would be devastated if anything happened to the child.

Healer Williams showed Rodolphus and Evan to a small waiting area and told them they could wait there for someone to come speak to them. Rodolphus tried to ask how she was doing, but Williams just shook his head dismissively and said that she was still unconscious, and he had to get back to her.

It was over an hour before another Healer walked over to them. Rodolphus looked up hopefully as she approached, assuming it was someone coming with news for him. However, it turned out to be Evan's supervisor, who reprimanded him for leaving his desk without getting anyone to fill in and said that she would be reporting him to his father, one of the head Healers in the hospital.

"Stupid bitch," Evan muttered quietly after she walked away. He stayed seated where he was, though, and made no indication that he planned on returning to his post.

More time passed with no news, and the hospital steadily grew busier, with people arriving to work. Various Healers walked past them in different directions, many greeting Evan on their way by.

Evan's father eventually showed up, seeking out his son. Mister Rosier admonished Evan for being ungrateful for the job that he got him and said that he was very lucky that he wasn't fired. Then, he threatened that if Evan had one more slip-up, he was going to personally sack him.

Mister Rosier then turned to Rodolphus and kindly offered his sympathies. He told him not to worry because they have the best Healers in the country and his wife was in good hands. Rodolphus thanked him and glanced at Evan, who was scowling darkly at his father.

Finally, Healer Williams came out and sat down. He gently told Rodolphus that despite their best efforts, they were unable to save the baby. Rodolphus took the news in, feeling a bit sad, but the baby was not his main concern.

"And Lucretia?" he asked the Healer.

"Her condition seems to have stabilized," Healer Williams said, glancing down at the chart he was holding. "We have a few more things to do, then you should be able to see her."

"How much longer?" Rodolphus asked feeling impatient.

"Give us about twenty more minutes and then we can probably let you in," Healer Williams informed him.

Rodolphus nodded as Healer Williams stood up. He felt so relieved; his wife was going to be okay. They lost the baby, but she was okay. Lucretia would be distraught of course, especially if it was a girl…

"Healer Williams!" Rodolphus called, jumping up from his chair. Healer Williams turned back to face him. "Er—the baby… do you know if the baby was a boy or girl?"

Healer Williams nodded. "Definitely a girl," he replied, sadly. "You may see her if you like, but she's very tiny and not fully developed."

Rodolphus nodded in understanding. "I will wait and see what Lucretia wants to do."

As Healer Williams went back to his patient, Rodolphus collapsed in the chair again. He sighed as he put his head in his hands.

"Thank you, Ev," Rodolphus said, through his hands.

"For what?"

"Just for being here and staying with me." Rodolphus lowered his hands and looked at him. "This has been, by far, the worst night of my life."

"You would do the same for me," Evan shrugged. "I may need to borrow some gold though. If I lose my job, it's your fault."

For the first time all night, Rodolphus laughed. He couldn't express the relief he felt that everything was going to be okay now. The stress and worry that he had felt since the day Lucretia told him she was pregnant was slowly edging away. Things would get back to normal again. Together they would raise the boys and be a happy family. He knew that Lucretia wouldn't have the daughter she always wanted but now, hopefully, she would see that getting pregnant again wasn't worth the risk.

Fifteen minutes later, Healer Williams appeared in the waiting room again and Rodolphus jumped up, eager to see Lucretia.

"What room is she in?" he asked, starting to walk down the hall that Healer Williams had come from.

"Mister Lestrange," Healer Williams said quietly. "I think you should sit down."

"I don't want to sit," Rodolphus said, getting impatient. "I've been sitting all night! I want to see my wife. Which room?"

"Mister Lestrange… I don't know how to say this…"

"What?" Rodolphus was feeling perplexed. Healer Williams came out to take him to his wife, but now he wouldn't tell him where she was.

Then it hit him – they must have told her about the baby already! Was she angry with him because he didn't want another child in the first place? Did she tell the Healers not to let Rodolphus in to see her? He remembers his words from a few weeks ago when he told her to '_get rid of it'_. But, surely, she knew that he never wanted _this_ to happen.

"Perhaps you should sit down?" Williams suggested again.

"I'm going to see Lucretia," Rodolphus said irritably, as he began walking down the corridor. In his mind, he was already coming up with things to say to her, so she wouldn't be upset with him.

"Mister Lestrange," Williams called to him. "I'm sorry, but your wife is gone."

"Gone?" He spun around, completely confused. "Gone where?"

"She's dead."


	12. The Desolation

**Chapter 12: The Desolation**

_December 1967_

The days following Lucretia's death seemed to blur together for Rodolphus. He spent most of the time in his study, avoiding everyone, as he drank his way through his liquor cabinet. The only person he had spoken to since leaving the hospital was Evan.

Rodolphus wasn't sure who had told Rhadé about the death of his mother, but if the boy had any questions about it, he didn't seek out his father for answers. In return, Rodolphus couldn't bring himself to go see his son.

Evan offered to go pick Rabastan up from school, which Rodolphus immediately agreed to. He was glad for a reason to not have to leave the house and consort with other people. Once Rabastan returned home, he came knocking on the door of Rodolphus' study. As he sat in one of the arm chairs, with a bottle of firewhisky in his hand, Rodolphus felt a pang of guilt as he ignored his brother's voice calling out for him. He knew Rabastan would be very upset by Lucretia's death, but he didn't have it in him to try to comfort his brother.

To be honest, he wasn't really capable of doing anything these days. He was grateful when Evan took it upon himself to prepare all the necessary arrangements for the funeral service. His friend also cancelled any previous scheduled meetings that Rodolphus was supposed to be attending that week, then sent word to all of Lucretia's family and friends to inform them about her passing, making any necessary preparations for those who wanted to come and pay their respects.

Two days after Lucretia's death, Evan forced Rodolphus to attend a meeting with the funeral director and officiant who proceeded over his father's funeral a few years earlier. With Evan sitting next to him for assistance, Rodolphus was able to put together the arrangements for the service without too much trouble. He wanted it kept small – family and closest friends only. He couldn't tolerate being surrounded by a group of people offering their sympathies, with the forced, piteous smiles on their faces as they gave the usual hollow words of comfort.

However, when the conversation with the men switched to that of the baby, Rodolphus lost his temper. Unexpected fits of rage were a common occurrence for him these past couple days. He shouted at the funeral director for even bringing up the subject of that child who brought upon death of his wife. As he stormed from the parlour, he heard Evan quietly trying to explain Rodolphus' abrupt mood swing to the two shocked men.

Rodolphus headed straight for his study and poured a glass of firewhisky, downing the whole thing in one swallow. He followed that with a second glass. Then a third. Finally feeling more under control, he returned to the parlour and apologized for his rude behavior. In return he was given more fake sympathetic smiles and empty words of _understanding_.

"The child should be placed in our family mausoleum as well," Rodolphus informed the funeral director, keeping his gaze on the rug on the floor at his feet. "I would like her placed in the tomb with Lucretia. That's what she would want."

"Yes, I was just suggesting that to Mister Rosier," the funeral director said. "It's a lovely gesture to keep them together."

While Rodolphus found nothing lovely about this situation, he nodded politely.

Lucretia's family arrived the next day. Although Rodolphus had no desire to be around his in-laws (or anyone else, for that matter), he knew that he had a duty to go and greet them. When he entered Monsieur and Madame Tremblay's guest room, his mother-in-law threw her arms around him and sobbed. His father-in-law gently pulled his wife off Rodolphus and grasped his hand, the pain of losing his only daughter was plainly etched onto his face. They spoke cordially for a few moments and then Rodolphus excused himself, saying that he needed to rest and assured them that he would see them at supper time.

Instead of going to bed, Rodolphus headed back to his study. He hadn't slept at all since his wife's death. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her beautiful face and his heart would begin to ache so bad that he thought it was going to explode. Closing the office door quietly behind him, he leaned back against it, feeling more at ease by the silence of the room. Lately he found that talking to people took every bit of energy that he had.

His eyes wandered over to his desk, which was covered with the past week's post. For lack of nothing better to do, he decided to get caught up on some work. At the very least, he thought it might take his mind off things. He sat down and started sorting through the pile of letters: junk mail went into the rubbish bin, while cards of sympathy were put in a pile to be read at another time. He also had to set aside requests for meetings, interviews and luncheons – all things that would have to wait until a later date.

A letter in his mother's handwriting caught his eye. Evan said that he had sent word to her about Lucretia's death, but Rodolphus hadn't actually expected a response. He opened the letter curiously.

_Rodolphus:  
I'm sorry to hear of Lucilla's passing. Regretfully, I will not be able to make it to the funeral as I have another engagement that day…_

He glared at the letter. The wretched woman didn't even know the name of her son's wife. Not bothering to read anymore, Rodolphus crumpled it up and threw it toward the fireplace. He felt annoyed when it landed on the floor, a foot away from the grate.

Rodolphus picked up the next letter, which turned out to be from a charity organization raising funds for St. Mungo's Hospital. He usually donated money to St. Mungo's whenever the requests came. But as he thought of the large hospital with numerous, incompetent staff who hadn't been able to save his wife, the donation request landed next to his mother's letter.

Sighing in resignation, Rodolphus got up from his desk and walked over and picked up the discarded letters. He tossed them into fire and felt somewhat satisfied as he watched them burn slowly. He then walked over to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of firewhisky. As it slowly went down his throat, he felt the familiar calm feeling spreading throughout the rest of his body. Tipping back the glass to take another drink, he realized that it was empty and poured himself another large portion.

*.*.*

Later that night, Rodolphus stood staring out the window of his study, watching the sun slowly setting. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. He looked toward one of the flower gardens and couldn't believe his eyes: _it was Lucretia!_

She was walking through the garden, stopping every so often to smell one the flowers. Suddenly, she looked up at him. Smiling, she waved at him, gesturing for him to come outside. He didn't budge. This couldn't be real. He closed his eyes, knowing that when he opened them, the image of her would be gone.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, he opened his eyes and was astonished to see that she was still there, smiling at him. She playfully crossed her arms and pouted at him. He continued to stare back at her, and she waved at him again, motioning for him to come out to her.

Rodolphus rushed out the door of his study. The house was quiet as he made his way down the stairs. He was thankful not to see anyone – they might think he was crazy.

Before going out the back door and into the garden, Rodolphus went into the nearby parlour, which was the closest room to where Lucretia was standing. He looked out the window there to see if she was still there. He needed to know if this was real.

To his amazement, Lucretia _was_ still there, walking along the rows of flowers, not noticing that he was standing directly in front of her, watching her through the window. She probably assumed that he returned to his work and chose not to join her outside – as he did many times over the past few years.

The guilt inside of him made his stomach feel queasy. There were so many days that he could have spent with her, but he was always so busy with work or meetings or Death Eater obligations. Vowing not to make the same mistake this time, Rodolphus ran toward the back door. He would spend all night with her, never once leaving her side.

As Rodolphus ran into the garden, he saw that the sun had now properly set. He stood in the twilight looking at the flower garden, which was now empty. Lucretia was gone.

He shook his head. _No_, he told himself sadly, _she was never there to begin with. _Knowing that it wasn't a good sign that he was now hallucinating, he decided to go back inside and have a drink to calm his nerves.

He turned and jumped a foot off the ground. Lucretia was standing right in front of him.

"You came out!" she said, happily, showing him the beautiful smile that he loved. "Come see the flowers, my love! They are so pretty this year."

Lucretia walked over to the garden again and Rodolphus slowly followed, feeling like he was in another world. He walked closer to her, wanting to touch her. He wondered if perhaps she was a ghost, but she seemed too solid. Reaching out, Rodolphus tried to grab her hand, but at the same time she stepped away and lifted a finger to lightly stroke a tall purple iris.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked him, almost whispering. When he didn't respond, she turned to face him, looking at him curiously. "Rodolphus? Are you okay, my love?"

"Are you really here?" Rodolphus asked her.

Lucretia looked at him questioningly then laughed. Her wonderful, carefree laugh that could make anyone smile.

"Of course, I'm here!" she said, as she walked toward him.

Rodolphus sighed with relief. He didn't understand what was happening, but he didn't care. A wave of happiness overtook him and, for the first time in years, he felt tears welling up in his eyes.

"I thought you were dead," he admitted quietly, almost ashamed to say it.

"Oh, my love," Lucretia said quietly. She reached out and placed a delicate hand on his cheek. He could feel his skin tingling at her warm touch. "I am dead."

Rodolphus fell to the floor with a crash, hitting his head off the corner of his desk.

Groaning, he sat up, rubbing the side of his head. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in his office, not outside. All alone, not with Lucretia.

_Lucretia!_

Rodolphus stood up too quickly and got lightheaded. Holding onto the furniture to move across the room, he made it to the window and looked outside. There was no one out there. There wasn't even a flower garden, because the ground was covered with snow. Then he remembered that it was winter, not spring.

I must have fallen asleep at his desk, Rodolphus reasoned with himself. He rubbed his sore head again, then brought his hand to his cheek – to the spot that Lucretia had just touched.

_No!_ he told himself angrily. _It was all a dream, just a stupid dream._

Looking outside again, Rodolphus realized the sun was slowly coming up. It was morning already, meaning that it was now the day of the funeral. He felt sick to his stomach, which reminded him that he had skipped supper again last night, making it three days since he had last eaten a decent meal. Although, judging by the number of empty liquor bottles laying around his study, he didn't seem to have gone thirsty.

Rodolphus jumped slightly as someone knocked on the door of his office. He ran a hand over his face, trying to pull himself together as he walked over and opened it. Evan was standing on the other side, holding two coffee mugs.

"I figured you were up already," Evan commented. "I thought you might want to start today off with a little caffeine."

"That sounds great," Rodolphus said appreciatively and he stepped back so Evan could enter the room.

"Though you may need more than one cup," Evan remarked, raising his eyebrows as he noticed the empty bottles.

"Rough night," Rodolphus admitted, accepting the mug of coffee from his friend and sitting down on the couch.

Evan sat next to him, looking at him carefully. "You really look like shit."

"I _feel_ like shit," Rodolphus replied, before taking a sip of his coffee. Evan gave him a sympathetic look but didn't say anything. He didn't need to.

As they drank their coffees, Evan filled Rodolphus in on how Rhadé and Rabastan were doing. Both were still quite upset, of course, but seemed to be handling things well enough. Rodolphus just nodded, not having the energy to ask any questions.

"So, you should go have a shower, put on some clean clothes, and then eat something," Evan said, as he finished off his coffee. "Don't worry about anything else. I've already given your elves their assignments for the day and Ms. Carlisle is going to look after getting the boys ready."

Rodolphus nodded again but didn't say anything. He was mentally trying to prepare himself for what was going to happen in a few hours.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Evan asked, looking concerned. "I can stay with you."

"I'm fine, Ev, just a little tired," Rodolphus assured him. "Thank you for looking after everything for me. I honestly don't know what I would do without you. And, don't worry, I will be ready for the service in time."

Once Evan left the room, Rodolphus forced himself to get up off the couch. He knew had to get this day over with.

"I can do this," he said to himself, as his eyes drifted over toward the open door of his liquor cabinet. "I just need one more drink first."


	13. The End of Him

**Chapter 13: The End of Him**

_February 1968 _

Rabastan kept glancing up the gray clouds visible through the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall. Beside him, his friends were talking to each other, but he wasn't paying attention to anything they were saying. Any moment, the flock of owls would soar into the Great Hall, bringing letters and packages for students, and Rabastan hoped that today would be the day that someone sent a letter to him.

He had been back at school for almost two months. In contrast to how he felt in September, when he had doubts about leaving home, Rabastan had actually felt relieved when Evan dropped him off at the train station at the end of the winter holidays.

Despite Evan's assurances that things would be better at home when Rabastan returned in June, he had his doubts. He felt like he had not only lost Lucretia, but he had also lost Rodolphus. During the time that he was home for Lucretia's funeral, followed by winter break, Rodolphus had only spoke to him a total of three times.

When Christmas Day had came and went as though it were any other ordinary day, Rabastan felt a sense of dread that his life was going to go back to the way it was before his father died. Renier Lestrange had never allowed the family to celebrate Christmas, often stating that the holiday was a frivolous waste of time. However, last Christmas was different, with Renier gone. Lucretia insisted that they start celebrating Christmas properly and Rodolphus, who didn't care if they celebrated it or not, told her to do whatever she wanted.

For the first time ever, Rabastan enjoyed a home that was decorated top to bottom in Christmas décor. Lucretia had the elves bake special cookies for Rabastan and Rhadé to decorate. She joined them, while singing Christmas carols, encouraging them to join in.

Lucretia also told Rabastan and Rhadé stories about a man named Father Christmas, who dressed in a red suit and delivered toys to all the children in the world. Rabastan thought it was a stupid story, until Christmas morning came, and he had a pile of gifts from "Father Christmas" sitting at the foot of his bed. Lucretia insisted that she had no idea where they came from and, while he was sure she was behind it, it was hard to not get caught up in the enchanted atmosphere of the day.

But no gifts came this past Christmas – not from Father Christmas, nor anyone else. There were no trimmings, no Christmas cookies, no carol singing. Instead, Rabastan spent the day with Rhadé, trying to keep the young boy entertained, while Rodolphus spent most of the day locked up in his office, as usual, occasionally stumbling out, half in the bag, passing by Rabastan and Rhadé as though they weren't even there.

Rabastan despised this new version of his brother, who reminded him too much of a mixture of their always-angry father and regularly-intoxicated mother. And, regardless of what Evan assured him, Rabastan knew that things at home would never be the same again.

A flurry of owls brought Rabastan back to the present. He searched the sea of feathers, talons and parchment, looking for a familiar bird. He missed his letters from Lucretia, which used to come two or three times a week. He kept hoping that Rodolphus (a recovered, amicable Rodolphus) would write and check in with him – any small sign that his brother still cared about him would be nice.

As a tawny owl soared down and landed in front of Selwyn, carrying a thick letter and a box of what was most likely homemade cookies from his mother, Rabastan glanced up once more, looking for something for him. After he was sure that nothing was coming, he turned back to his breakfast, feeling more alone than ever.

*.*.*

It wasn't until Rodolphus arrived at the Death Eater headquarters, that he realized that he was very late. He walked into the meeting room and saw every head turn toward him. Evan, Avery, Nott, Wilkes, and Dolohov were seated around the table, while the Dark Lord stood at the head of the table, with his arms crossed. He was glaring at Rodolphus and his eyes were showing the scarlet colour that seemed to come now when he was extremely angry.

"Lestrange," he said, his tone threatening, "so kind of you to fit us into your busy schedule."

"My apologies, my Lord." Rodolphus bowed his head subserviently. "I had lost track of the time."

"I don't have time for your excuses. Take your seat, Lestrange."

Rodolphus nodded and sat down at the table. Evan was seated across from him, concern evident on his face as he looked at him.

"As I was saying, before I was interrupted," the Dark Lord said, still glaring at Rodolphus, "Morgan Travers, one of our newer Death Eaters, works in the Department of Magical Transportation and he has proven to be very useful. In the past couple months, he was able to secure more allies within the Ministry, who are working to pass us valuable information."

The Death Eaters around the table looked impressed by this.

"Avery, how did you make out with Abraxas Malfoy?" the Dark Lord asked.

"I've met with him a couple of times now," Avery replied. "As you know, he doesn't work at the Ministry, but he often functions as an unofficial advisor to the Minister of Magic. He assured me that he's doing all he can to get the Mudblood out of office. So, hopefully Leach's days in the Ministry are numbered."

"Good," replied Nott savagely. "He's been there long enough as it is. I still can't believe the Mudblood was voted into office in the first place!"

"Keep me updated on anything else Malfoy says," the Dark Lord said, as Avery nodded. The Dark Lord glanced around at the men. "Anyone else have updated from our Ministry spies?"

Rodolphus felt the Dark Lord's gaze lingering on him, but he avoided eye contact with his master. Before Lucretia's death, he had been busy working on recruiting new members from the various committees he was involved in; but, since his wife's death, he had abandoned all attempts. Thankfully, Evan spoke up and drew the Dark Lord's attention away from Rodolphus.

"Well, not the Ministry," Evan responded. "But Jack Gibbon has definitely shown some interest. He's the colleague of my father's that I mentioned a couple weeks ago. I think having a trained Healer on our side would be extremely beneficial."

Everyone around the table nodded in agreement.

"Good work, Rosier," the Dark Lord said. "Anything else?" The men around the table shook their heads. "Very well," the Dark Lord continued. "I will be calling a full meeting with all my Death Eaters in the near future."

The Dark Lord then passed out assignments to each one and dismissed them.

"Lestrange, you can stay," the Dark Lord added.

Rodolphus, who had just stood up, sat back down, feeling apprehensive. Not that he hadn't been expecting this; he knew that he wouldn't be able to walk out of the room without the Dark Lord addressing his tardiness, which was becoming a frequent occurrence. He was fortunate that his master had let him off this long with his recent blunders.

"I am quickly running out of patience with you, Lestrange," the Dark Lord said, after the room had cleared out.

"I know, my Lord, but –," Rodolphus started to explain, forcing himself to glance up piteously.

_"__Quiet!"_

Rodolphus quickly bowed his head again.

"I understand the death of your wife has been difficult for you, but that was weeks ago. You're constantly late for meetings, you were absent on the last attack, and you still haven't obtained the information you promised to get for me. Are you losing interest in our cause?"

"No, my Lord, of course not. I still want to be involved. I – I've just had a lot going on," Rodolphus finished, lamely.

"If you are not back on form by this time next week, I may have to rethink your position within our ranks. We can afford laziness right now."

Rodolphus' eyes widened slightly as he glanced up again. Surely his master didn't mean removing him from the Death Eaters. At this point, there was only one way he was leaving the organization. He knew too much, and the Dark Lord wouldn't risk using a memory charm – he would require a more permanent solution to ensure Rodolphus' silence.

With his life now on the line, Rodolphus swallowed what little pride he had left, and slid out of his chair to kneel at the Dark Lord's feet.

"Master, please, I beg your forgiveness," he pleaded. "I know I haven't been doing as well as I should be. I implore you to give me another chance and I swear to you that I will improve."

"You had better," the Dark Lord said, his voice still had that threatening tone. "However, I think you may need more incentive."

Out of the corner of his eye, Rodolphus saw the wand lower seconds before the Dark Lord issued the curse. Pain shot through every inch of his body as the Cruciatus Curse attacked his bones and nerves. His hands went to his head and a whimper escaped his throat. After what felt like an eternity, the curse ended and Rodolphus found himself laying flat on his back, tremors still overcoming his body occasionally as the aftershocks of the curse went through him.

The Dark Lord sighed as Rodolphus slowly rolled over and pulled himself back up to his knees.

"You're becoming weak, Lestrange."

Rodolphus didn't have the energy to dispute his master's accusation. He just hoped that he would be allowed to go for the night, so he could go home and have a stiff drink to take the pain away. The Dark Lord, however, seemed to have other plans for Rodolphus.

"Take your seat," he said, walking around the table.

Rodolphus managed to get himself into his chair. He kept his head slightly bowed, afraid of what the Dark Lord might do to him next. He was surprised, however, when his master sat down in the chair opposite him.

"I warned you, years ago, that love causes weakness," the Dark Lord said, delicately. "It can reduce even the strongest of men to nothing." Rodolphus sat still, not saying a word and not able to meet the Dark Lord's eyes. "You loved your wife dearly, but now she is gone and that love you had for her is slowly destroying you. Do you see now, that it is much easier to never fall in love? Then you have nothing to lose."

While he felt a slight twinge of anger at having the Dark Lord speaking about his affection for Lucretia this way, Rodolphus had to admit to himself that there was a great deal of truth in what his master was saying. If he had never loved his wife, he wouldn't mourn for her now. She would have just been gone and he would have moved on with his everyday life.

"Let me help you."

Rodolphus finally glanced up at the Dark Lord, who had sat regarding him coolly.

"What do you mean?" Rodolphus asked, feeling perplexed.

"I can remove the memories and feelings you had for her," the Dark Lord said, his eyes not leaving Rodolphus' face. "You will remember her, of course, but she will mean nothing to you. Her death would mean nothing to you."

Rodolphus felt shocked. Could it be that easy? He wouldn't have to feel miserable anymore. His life would go back to normal. He almost agreed on the spot, but then thought about how happy she had made him. The days they spent together, laughing and making plans for their future. The nights when she was wrapped up in his arms and he felt at absolute peace.

"I can't do that, my Lord," Rodolphus replied after a moment, looking beseechingly at his master.

The Dark Lord looked surprised for a moment, and Rodolphus was sure he saw a flicker of disappointment cross his face.

"The choice is yours," the Dark Lord said, with a shrug. "But we have important things to be getting on with, and you are no good to me in this state."

"Yes, my Lord, I understand," Rodolphus said, nodding. "I truly beg your forgiveness for my behaviour these past few weeks. I can – _I_ _will_ – do better."

The Dark Lord nodded. "Very well," he said, standing up. "You may go."

Rodolphus bowed again to the Dark Lord before leaving, thanking him for his patience.

Once he returned home, he walked toward the house thinking hard. As tempting as it was, he couldn't bear to erase his memories of Lucretia, but he also couldn't keep going the way he had been. For weeks now, he has been locking himself up, hiding from everyone and everything to avoid the emptiness he felt. He knew that he had to stop the path he was on or it would be the end of him. The Dark Lord was right: love certainly made one foolish and weak.

As he reached the second floor of his home, he found Evan pacing the hallway in front of his study. His friend looked up as Rodolphus walked toward him.

"What are you doing?" Rodolphus asked him, as he unlocked his office door.

"I didn't think you would be returning, so I was trying to think of how I was going to explain to Rhadé that you were dead now, too," Evan said irritably, as he glared at Rodolphus. "You know, it was hard enough to do the first time when I had to tell the poor boy about his mother."

"Well, don't worry about it," Rodolphus replied, as he entered his study and walked over to his liquor cabinet. "I'm still here."

"Do you really need that?" Evan asked him, eyeing the bottle in Rodolphus' hand. Rodolphus ignored him as he poured himself a glass of whisky and sat down in one of the armchairs. "I see the Dark Lord was lenient with you, _again_," Evan continued. "You're damn lucky he likes you."

"I know," Rodolphus replied quietly. "But I'm pretty sure that was the last pardon I'm going to receive from him."

Evan scowled at him for a moment longer, then sighed in resignation, and sat down in the other chair.

"So, what did he say to you?" Evan asked, as he summoned the liquor bottle and another glass over to pour himself a drink.

"He offered to remove my good memories of Lucretia. Make it so that I would remember her, but not remember loving her."

Evan looked up at him in shock. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I couldn't do it," Rodolphus admitted. "I was tempted to. Obviously, it would solve a lot of my problems. But it felt so… disrespectful to her."

Evan nodded, looking unsure of what to say.

"I have another idea, though," Rodolphus said.

He drained the last of his whisky, stood up and walked over to his desk. He picked up a framed photograph of Lucretia that sat there. As he stared at it for a moment, he felt the familiar ache in his heart, then he placed it in the bottom drawer of his desk and summoned Sobie.

"Yes, Master?" the elf asked, as he appeared in the room.

"I want you to go through my bedroom and remove every single item that belonged to Lucretia and put it in storage on the fourth floor. Then I want every photograph and painting of her removed as well. Once you are done in my room, you can continue on with every other room in this house, except for this one."

The elf looked surprised for a moment, then nodded and assured him that he would do it right away.

"It's for the best," Evan said softly, after a moment.

"I know," Rodolphus agreed. "It's time to move on with my life."


End file.
